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PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE 

SEVENTH 

CALIFORNIA  CONFERENCE 

OF 

CHARITIES  6-  CORRECTIONS 


IN 

Y  FACILir 


HELD   AT    FRESNO,    CALIFORNIA 
FEBRUARY  28  to  MARCH   3,    1915 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE 

SEVENTH 

CALIFORNIA  CONFERENCE 

OF 

CHARITIES  &•  CORRECTIONS 


HELD    AT    FRESNO,    CALIFORNIA 
FEBRUARY   28  to  MARCH    3,    1915 


'DONE  £Y  WETZEL  £ROS.   'PRESS.  BERKELEY 


ORGANIZATION  OF   1915    CONFERENCE 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  CONFERENCE 
PRESIDENT,  OSGOOD  PUTNAM 
FIRST  VICE-PRESIDENT,  JUDGE  P.  F.  GOSBEY 
SECOND  VICE-PRESIDENT,  BISHOP  LOUIS  C.  SANFORD 
SECRETARY-TREASURER,  STUART  A.  QUEEN 

EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE 

OSGOOD  PUTNAM  J.  C.  ASTREDO 

O.  K.  GUSHING  JUDGE  CURTIS  D.  WILBUR 

MRS.  FRANCES  B.  LEMON         MRS.  J.  M.  GUSHING 
STUART  A.  QUEEN 

COMMITTEE  ON  TIME  AND  PLACE 

MRS.  CARRIE  P.  BRYANT,  Chairman 

MISS  MABEL  WEED  REV.  E.  GUY  TALBOTT 

MRS.  E.  L.  BALDWIN  MRS.  E.  G.  ORD 

COMMITTEE  ON  ORGANIZATION 

CHRISTOPHER  RUESS,  Chairman 
MRS.  FRANCES  B.  LEMON  A.  CARTER 
MISS  MARY  BRUSIE  C.  H.  WATERMAN 

COMMITTEE  ON  RESOLUTIONS 

J.  C.  ASTREDO,  Chairman 

REV.  THOS.  C.  MARSHALL         DR.  MILBANK  JOHNSON 
DR.  JESSICA  B.  PEIXOTTO         STUART  A.  QUEEN 

LOCAL  COMMITTEE 

H.  A.  SESSIONS,  Chairman 

CHAS.  L.  MINER,  Secretary 

MRS.  F.  E.  COOK  REV.  F.  B.  COWGILL 

MISS  EUGENIA  MILLER  JOHN  A.  NEU 

N.  E.  CARNINE 


CALIFORNIA  STATE  CONFERENCE  OF  SOCIAL 
AGENCIES 

ORGANIZATION  FOR  1916 

OFFICERS  OF  THE  CONFERENCE 

PRESIDENT,  DR.  MILBANK  JOHNSON 
FIRST  VICE-PRESIDENT,  MRS.  E.  L.  BALDWIN 
SECOND  VICE-PRESIDENT,  E.  J.  LICKLEY 
SECRETARY-TREASURER,  STUART  A.  QUEEN 
ASSISTANT  SECRETARY,  MISS  MARY  J.  WORKMAN 

EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE 

DR.  MILBANK  JOHNSON  REV.  JOS.  S.  GLASS* 

MRS.  CORA  D.  LEWIS  MRS.  BENJ.  GOLDMAN 

MISS  MARY  J.  WORKMAN  STUART  A.  QUEEN 

MRS.  T.  C.  POUNDS  MRS.  CARRIE  P.  BRYANTf 

PROGRAM  COMMITTEE 

DR.  ROCKWELL  D.  HUNT,  Chairman 
MRS.  CARRIE  P.  BRYANT.  Vice-chairman 

CHAIRMAN  OF  LOCAL  COMMITTEES 

HALLS  and  HEADQUARTERS:  MRS.  CORA  D.  LEWIS 

HOTELS:  MRS.  CARRIE  P.  BRYANT 

CO-OPERATION:  MR.  JAMES  B.  WILLIAMS 

ENTERTAINMENT:  MRS.  ELIZABETH  McMANUS 

AMUSEMENTS:  MR.  F.  W.  BLANCHARD 

FINANCE:  REV.  JOS.  S.  GLASS* 


*Resigned  fElected  to  succeed  Rev.  Jos.  S.  Glass 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

ORGANIZATION  OF   1915  CONFERENCE 

ORGANIZATION  FOR  1916 

FOREWORD 

CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  CONFERENCE 

PROGRAM 

MINUTES  OF  BUSINESS  SESSIONS 

MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION  AND  CONTROL  OF  CHARITIES 


The  Kansas  City  Plan       - 
The  Berkeley  Plan     - 
The  Los  Angeles  Plan     - 

RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL  WORK 

Religion  and  Social  Work         - 
Religion  and  Social  Service       - 
Religion  and  Social  Progress       - 
The  Church  and  Social  Work 
The  Church  and  Social  Work 
Address  to  the  Churches     - 

CHILD  WELFARE  WORK 

State  Aid  to  Children 

State  Aid  to  Children         - 

Child-Placing        ------- 

PROBATION 

Adult  Probation      ------- 

COUNTY  CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTIONS 

Extracts  from  Bill  pending  in  Missouri  Legislature 
The  Proposed  Kansas  Plan        - 

MEMBERS  OF  1915  CONFERENCE 


-  Mr.  L.  A.  Halbert 
-  Rev.  E.  L.  Parsons 
Dr.  Milbank  Johnson 


Rabbi  Martin  A.  Meyer 
Bishop  Louis  C.  Sanford 
Bishop  William  M.  Bell 
Rev.  Thomas  C.  Marshall 
Rev.  E.  Guy  Talbott 
-     Special  Committee 


Mr.  John  Francis  Neylan 
Miss  Margaret  Nesfield 
Miss  Mary  E.  Brusie 


Mr.  L.  D.  Compton 


Mr.  L.  A.  Halbert 


TREASURER'S  REPORT 


FOREWORD 

In  presenting  these  "Proceedings"  to  the  public,  it  seems  important  to 
offer  a  few  words  of  explanation.  The  California  State  Conference  of  Charities 
and  Corrections,  henceforth  to  be  known  as  the  California  State  Conference  of 
Social  Agencies,  is  an  organization  of  the  social  workers  of  the  state.  The  bonds 
that  hold  us  together  are  rather  loosely  knit;  and  we  have  no  financial  backing 
other  than  membership  fees  and  occasional  donations  from  cities  which  enter- 
tain us  from  time  to  time.  As  a  result  our  meetings  and  other  activities  must  be 
planned  and  carried  out  on  a  modest  scale.  In  making  the  budget  for  the  Fresno 
gathering  it  seemed  unwise  to  employ  stenographers  to  render  a  verbatim  report 
of  proceedings.  Instead,  the  various  persons  who  participated  in  the  program 
were  asked  to  provide  a  written  copy  of  their  address  or  remarks,  as  the  case  might 
be,  or  else  an  abstract  of  the  same.  Unfortunately,  the  experiment  did  not  prove 
an  entire  success,  for  several  speakers  failed  to  comply  with  this  request.  We 
regret  particularly  the  lack  of  material  pertaining  to  child  welfare  work,  which 
was  really  one  of  the  important  features  of  the  Fresno  Conference.  The  chair- 
men of  several  of  the  round-tables  sent  in  short  resumes  of  the  discussions,  but 
most  of  them  are  so  very  brief  that  it  has  not  been  deemed  wise  to  include  them 
in  this  publication.  However,  this  deficiency  is  in  a  measure  offset  by  the  fact 
that  the  resolutions  adopted  and  rejected  by  the  Conference  represent  the  out- 
come of  all  the  discussions,  and  these  are  printed  in  the  pages  that  follow. 

The  following  note  appeared  on  the  programs  distributed  at  Fresno: 

In  all  Round  Tables,  the  discussion  will  bear  on  Causes, 
Methods  of  Care,  Legislation  and  Prevention.  Inasmuch  as 
this  Conference  occurs  during  the  Legislative  recess  and  there  is 
much  pending  legislation  of  great  importance  to  social  workers, 
it  is  requested  that  so  far  as  possible  the  findings  of  the  various 
sections  of  the  Conference  be  presented  to  the  Committee  on  Reso- 
lutions in  the  form  of  Approval,  Amendment,  or  Rejection  of  Bills, 
now  under  consideration  by  the  Legislature.  Resolutions  must  be 
in  writing.  They  may  be  read  at  any  session  of  the  Conference,  but 
are  not  debatable  until  reported  back  by  the  Committee  on  Resolu- 
tions. 

Stuart  A.  Queen, 

Secretary. 


CALIFORNIA   STATE   CONFERENCE   OF  SOCIAL 
AGENCIES 

CONSTITUTION 

I.     Name 

*This  organization  shall  be  known  as  the  California  State  Conference  of 
Social  Agencies. 

II.     Objects 

The  objects  of  this  Conference  are:  The  study  of  the  principles  which 
underlie  charitable  and  correctional  work;  the  investigation  and  collection  of 
facts  pertaining  to  the  delinquent,  defective  and  dependent  classes,  and  the  in- 
stitutions for  their  care;  the  development  and  comparison  of  methods  of  manage- 
ment and  treatment;  the  diffusion  of  general  information;  and  the  encourage- 
ment of  cooperation  in  humanitarian  efforts,  with  the  purpose  of  further  improving 
the  charitable  and  correctional  system  of  the  State. 
III.  Membership 

*Membership  in  the  Conference  is  limited  to  persons  actually  connected 
with  Juvenile  Courts,  State  Institutions,  public  welfare  agencies,  and  such  private 
institutions  and  organizations  as  have  the  endorsement  of  the  State  Board  of 
Charities  and  Corrections  or  of  local  endorsement  commissions  or  agencies,  where 
such  body  exists;  provided  that  any  person,  institution  or  association  actively 
interested  in  welfare  work  in  California  may  make  application  for  membership 
as  provided  in  section  4  of  article  8  of  the  constitution. 
IV.  Meetings 

There  shall  be  an  annual  meeting  of  the  Conference  to  be  known  as  "The 
Annual  Conference,"  at  such  time  and  place  as  may  be  determined  by  the  pre- 
ceding Conference,  and  if  the  Conference  fails  to  act,  then  by  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee. 

V.     Annual  Dues 

The  annual  dues  of  the  Conference  shall  be  one  dollar  per  annum,  payable 
at  the  Annual  Conference.  And  in  case  no  Conference  is  held  during  any  year 
no  dues  for  that  year  shall  be  required. 

VI.     Officers 

The  officers  of  the  Conference  shall  consist  of  a  President,  two  Vice-Presi- 
dents,  a  Secretary  and  a  Treasurer.  The  two  last  named  may  be  held  by  the  same 
person,  at  the  discretion  of  the  Conference. 

VII.     Duties  of  Officers 

The  duties  of  the  officers  shall  be  such  as  usually  devolve  upon  such  officers, 
and  such  additional  duties  as  may  be  imposed  upon  them  by  either  the  Conference 
or  Executive  Committee. 

VIII.     Committees 

Section  1.  The  Conference  shall  elect  at  the  time  of  the  election  of  officers 
an  Executive  Committee  of  five  members  in  addition  to  the  President  and  Sec- 
retary, who  shall  be  ex-officio  Chairman  and  Secretary,  respectively,  of  the  Com- 
mittee. 


Sec.  2.  There  shall  be  appointed  by  the  President,  not  later  than  the 
second  day  of  the  Annual  Conference,  the  following  Committees: 

First:  A  Committee  of  five  on  time  and  place  of  meeting  of  the  next 
Conference. 

Second:     A  Committee  of  five  on  the  organization  of  the  next  Conference. 

Third:  A  Committee  of  five  on  resolutions,  to  which  all  resolutions  shall 
be  referred  without  debate. 

*Sec.  3.  The  Executive  Committee  shall  within  five  months  after  the 
close  of  any  Annual  Conference  determine  upon  general  topics  of  discussion  for 
the  next  Annual  Conference.  Not  later  than  six  months  after  the  close  of  any 
Annual  Conference  the  President  shall  appoint  a  Program  Committee  to  consist 
of  members  who  shall  be  chairmen  of  sub-committees.  There  shall  be  one  such 
sub-committee  for  each  general  topic  of  discussion  designated  by  the  Executive 
Committee.  Each  chairman  of  such  sub-committee  shall  select  two  other  members 
at  large  to  serve  on  his  committee.  The  sub-committees  shall  report  to  the  Pro- 
gram Committee  not  later  than  sixty  days  before  the  opening  of  the  Annual 
Conference,  and  the  Program  Committee  shall  submit  all  arrangements  to  the 
Executive  Committee  for  its  approval  not  later  than  thirty  days  before  the  open- 
ing of  the  Annual  Conference.  The  Program  Committee  may  meet  at  any  place 
designated  by  its  chairman,  or  arrangements  may  be  made  by  correspondence 
with  the  general  secretary  of  the  Conference. 

*Sec.  4.  There  shall  be  appointed  by  the  President,  at  each  annual  Con- 
ference, and  to  serve  until  the  close  of  the  ensuing  annual  Conference,  a  committee 
of  five  on  membership  and  credentials,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  receive,  examine 
and  pass  upon  the  credentials  of  applicants  for  membership  in  the  Conference, 
not  definitely  provided  for  in  article  3  of  this  constitution. 

IX.     Duties  of  Committees 

Section  1.  The  Executive  Committee  shall  have  the  general  management 
of  the  affairs  of  the  Conference,  and  the  expenditure  of  its  funds,  and  shall  have 
the  power  to  fill  any  vacancies  in  the  Officers  of  the  Conference.  And  in  case  any 
officer  or  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  is  not  present  and  enrolled  at  the 
Annual  Conference  by  the  opening  of  the  second  session  thereof,  his  place  may 
be  considered  vacant  and  a  successor  appointed.  A  majority  of  the  Executive 
Committee  who  have  duly  enrolled  shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  this  purpose 
only. 

Sec.  2.  The  Committee  on  Organization  of  the  next  Conference  shall 
report  before  the  adjournment  of  the  Conference  a  list  of  nominations  of  officers 
for  the  next  Conference.  The  adoption  of  the  report  of  the  Committee,  either  as 
presented,  or  as  amended  by  vote  of  the  Conference,  shall  constitute  an  election. 

Sec.  3.  The  Committee  of  Time  and  Place  shall,  before  the  adjournment 
of  the  Conference,  report  a  time  and  place  for  the  meeting  of  the  next  Conference, 
but  the  Conference  may,  if  it  desires,  leave  the  question  of  time  and  place  to  the 
Executive  Committee  to  be  determined  at  a  later  date. 

Sec.  4.  The  Committee  on  Resolutions  shall  consider  all  resolutions  pre- 
sented to  the  Conference  and  report  thereon  before  the  adjournment  of  the  Con- 
ference. It  may  also  present  such  further  resolutions  as  the  majority  thereof  may 
deem  best. 

10 


X.     Terms  of  Officers 

The  officers  elected  at  any  Conference  shall  commence  their  term  of  service 
at  the  adjournment  of  the  Conference  at  which  they  are  elected  and  serve  until 
the  close  of  the  next  Conference,  or  until  their  successors  are  elected  and  have 
accepted. 

XI.      Quorum 

The  members  present  at  any  session  of  the  Conference  shall  constitute  a 
quorum  for  the  transaction  of  business.  Four  members  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee shall  constitute  a  quorum  of  that  body  for  such  purpose. 

XII.     Amendments 

This  Constitution  may  be  amended  in  the  following  manner,  to-wit:  The 
proposed  amendment  shall  be  submitted  in  writing  and  duly  read  in  open  session 
of  the  Conference,  then  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions,  who  shall 
report  the  same  back  at  a  future  session  with  their  recommendation.  Said  pro- 
posed amendment  shall  then,  subject  to  debate,  be  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the 
Conference,  and,  if  it  receives  the  favorable  vote  of  the  majority  of  the  members 
present  and  voting,  it  shall  be  declared  adopted. 


*  Articles  I  and  III  and  Sections  3  and  4  of  Article  VIII  received  the  unani- 
mous vote  of  members  present  at  the  Fresno  meeting.  Sections  3  and  4  of  Article 
VIII  are  new.  Articles  I  and  III  as  they  formerly  stood  are  printed  below.  The 
technical  proceeding  required  by  Article  XII  was  not  fully  complied  with  in  the 
adoption  of  these  amendments,  so  that  they  must  be  voted  upon  at  the  next  annual 
Conference.  However,  on  account  of  the  unanimous  vote  at  Fresno,  they  will 
be  considered  by  the  Executive  Committee  as  properly  adopted,  subject  to  ratifica- 
tion by  the  1916  meeting  at  Los  Angeles. 

I. 

This  organization  shall  be  known  as  the  Conference  of  Charities  and  Cor- 
rections of  the  State  of  California. 

III.     Membership 

Any  person  having  an  active  interest  in  correctional  or  charitable  work 
in  California,  whether  private  or  public,  may  become  a  member  of  the  Conference 
upon  payment  of  the  annual  dues  herein  prescribed. 


11 


PROGRAM 

Sunday,  February  28 

GENERAL  MEETINGS 
3:00  p.  m.     Fresno  Auditorium 

Dean  W.  R.  A.  MacDonald,  presiding. 

Union  Choir — A.  G.  Wahlberg,  Conductor. 

Scripture  Reading — Rev.  M.  H.  Knadjian. 

Union  Choir. 

Invocation — Dr.  F.  B.  Cowgill. 

Address  of  Welcome — Mr.  Chester  Rowell,  Editor  of  the  Fresno  Republican. 

Response — Mrs.  Carrie  P.  Bryant,  Vice-President  State  Board  of  Charities 

and  Corrections. 
Address— "Religion  and  Social   Work,"  Bishop  William  M.   Bell,   Bishop 

of  the  United  Brethren  Church  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 
Benediction — Rev.  Marcus  Hodgson. 

8:00  p.  m.     Fresno  Auditorium 

"RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL  WORK" 

Mr.  C.  L.  McLane,  presiding. 

Music. 

Scripture  Reading— Dr.  J.  W.  Conley. 

Invocation — Dr.  M.   A.  Hunter. 

Address — Rabbi   Martin   A.    Meyer,    President   State   Board   of   Charities 

and    Corrections. 

Address — Louis  C.  Sanford,  Bishop  of  San  Joaquin. 
Benediction— Rev.  T.  T.  Giffen. 

Monday,  March  1 

ROUND  TABLES 
9:30  a.  m.     Council  Chamber,  City  Hall 

1  'UNEMPLOYMENT' ' 
Discussion  opened  by  Mr.  George  L.  Bell,  Executive  Secretary,  Commission 

on   Immigration  and  Housing. 
9:30  a.  m.     First  Presbyterian  Church 

"THE  GIRL  PROBLEM" 

Discussion   opened   by    Miss   Beatrice    McCall,    Secretary    Woman's   Pro- 
tective Bureau,  Oakland.  % 

9:30  a.  m.     First  Presbyterian  Church 

"THE  DETENTION  HOME" 

Discussion  opened  by   Mrs.   E.    L.    Baldwin,   Chairman   Probation   Com- 
mittee, San  Francisco. 

2:30  p.  m.     First  Presbyterian  Church 

"IMMIGRATION  AND  HOUSING" 

Discussion  opened  by  Representative  of  the  Commission  on  Immigration 
and  Housing. 

12 


Stereopticon  Lecture,  "Housing  and  City  Planning,"  Charles  Henry  Cheney, 

Architect,  San  Francisco. 

Miss  Alice  Griffith,  Secretary  San  Francisco  Housing  Association. 
2:30  p.   m.     Council  Chamber,  City  Hall 

"ADULT  PROBATION" 
Discussion  opened  by  Mr.  L.  D.  Compton,  Adult  Probation  Officer,  Alameda 

County. 
Capt.  A.  C.  Dodds,  Adult  Probation  Officer,  Los  Angeles  County. 

GENERAL  MEETING 
8:00  p.   m.     Fresno  Auditorium 

"WARDS  OF  THE  STATE" 

Senator  W.  F.  Chandler,  presiding. 

Address — Mr.  Jas.  A.  Johnston,  Warden  San  Quentin  State  Prison. 
Address — Dr.    William   P.    Lucas,    Professor  of   Pediatrics,    University   of 
California. 

Tuesday,  March  2 

ROUND  TABLES 
9:30  a.   m.     Council  Chamber,   City  Hall 

Meeting  of  Probation  Officers. 
9:30  a.   m.     First  Presbyterian  Church 

"CHILD  PLACING" 

Discussion  opened  by  Dr.  Jessica  B.   Peixotto,   Member  State  Board  of 

Charities  and  Corrections. 
Miss  Mary  Brusie,  Secretary  Native  Sons'  and  Native  Daughters'  Central 

Committee  on  Homeless  Children. 

2:30  p.   m.     Council  Chamber,   City  Hall 

"STATE  AID  TO  CHILDREN" 

Discussion  opened  by  Mr.  John  Francis  Neylan,  Chairman  State  Board 

of  Control. 

Miss  Margaret  Nesfield,  Director  Widows'  Pension  Bureau,  San  Francisco. 
2:30  p.   m.     First  Presbyterian  Church 

"SOCIAL  WORK  FOR  THE  CHURCH" 
Discussion  opened  by  Rev.  T.  C.  Marshall,  First  Vice-President  Council 

of  Social  Agencies,  Los  Angeles. 
Rev.  E.  Guy  Talbott,  Secretary  Sacramento  Church  Federation. 

GENERAL  MEETING 
8:00  p.    m.      Fresno  Auditorium 

"MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION  AND  CONTROL  OF  CHARITIES" 
Dr.  Jessica  B.  Peixotto,  presiding. 
Address — Mr.  L.  A.  Halbert,  Superintendent  Kansas  City  Board  of  Public 

Welfare. 

Address — Rev.    Edward   L.    Parsons,    President   Berkeley   Charities  Com- 
mission. 

Address — Dr.  Milbank  Johnson,   President  Municipal  Charities  Commis- 
sion, Los  Angeles. 

13 


Wednesday,  March  3 

ROUND  TABLES 
9:30  a.   m.     Council  Chamber,  City  Hall 

"COUNTY  CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTIONS'1 

Discussion  opened  by    Mr.    L.    A.    Halbert,   Superintendent   Kansas  City 

Board  of  Public   Welfare. 

Mr.  Fred  L.  Shaw,  Member  1913  Grand  Jury,  Alameda  County. 
9:30  a.  m.     First  Presbyterian  Church 

"THE  BOY  PROBLEM" 
Discussion  opened  by  Mr.  C.  H.  Waterman,  Chief  Probation  Officer  Santa 

Clara  County. 
Mr.    Gerald    C.    Waterhouse,    Superintendent    California    George    Junior 

Republic,  Chino. 
9:30  a.  m.     First  Presbyterian  Church 

"SOCIAL  HYGIENE" 

Stereopticon  Lecture  by  Dr.  R.  O.  Moody,  University  of  California. 
2:00  p.   m.     Recreation  Provided  by  the  People  of  Fresno 

GENERAL  MEETING 
8:00  p.   m.     First  Presbyterian  Church 

Bishop  Louis  C.  Sanford,  presiding. 

Address — "The  Juvenile  Court,"  Frank  J.  Murasky,  Judge  of  the  Juvenile 
Court,  San  Francisco. 


14 


MINUTES  OF  BUSINESS  SESSIONS 

Monday  evening,  March  1,  at  8:15  p.  m.,  the  Conference  was  called  together 
by  Senator  W.  F.  Chandler,  in  the  absence  of  the  Chairman  of  the  Conference, 
and  a  partial  report  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  was  received. 

The  following  resolution,  being  favorably  reported  upon  by  the  Committee, 
was  formally  adopted  by  the  Conference: 

RESOLVED:  That  the  following  telegram  be  sent  at  once  to 
Senator  George  C.  Perkins  and  Senator  John  T.  Works,  Senate 
Chamber,  Washington,  D.  C.:—  . 

"The  California  State  Conference  of  Charities  and  Corrections, 
in  session  at  Fresno,  wishes  to  express  to  you  its  earnest  hope  that 
the  Palmer-Owens  Child  Labor  Bill  will  pass  the  Senate  before 
its  adjournment  March  fourth,  and  that  you  will  give  it  your 
earnest  support." 


Tuesday  evening,  March  2,  the  Conference  was  called  to  order  for  a  business 
session  at  8:15  by  Second  Vice-President  Sanford. 

It  was  moved,  seconded  and  unanimously  carried  that  there 
be  a  three  minute  limit  on  debate  in  connection  with  the  reports 
of    Committees. 
The  Committee  on  Time  and  Place  filed  the  following  report: 

That  the  invitation  extended  in  the  name  of  the  Charity  Workers 
of  Los  Angeles  to  hold  the  Eighth  Conference  of  California  Charities 
and  Corrections  in  Los  Angeles  be  cordially  accepted.  And  the 
Committee  further  recommends  that  the  Conference  open  on  the 
second  Sunday  in  March,  1916. 
Upon  motion  duly  made  and  seconded,  this  report  was  unanimously  adopted. 

The  Committee  on  Organization  presented  the  following  report  placing  in 
nomination  the  following,  who  were,  upon  motion  duly  seconded  and  carried, 
unanimously  eleceted:  — 

For  President,  Dr.  Milbank  Johnson,  Los  Angeles. 

First  Vice-President,  Mrs.  E.  L.  Baldwin,  San  Francisco. 
Second  Vice-President,  Mr.  E.  J.  Lickley,  Los  Angeles. 
Secretary  and  Treasurer,  Mr.  Stuart  A.  Queen,  San  Francisco. 
Other  members  of  the  Executive  Committee: 
Mrs.  Cora  D.  Lewis,  Los  Angeles. 
Miss  Mary  J.  Workman,  Los  Angeles. 
Mrs.  T.  C.  Pounds,  San  Diego. 
Rev.  Jos.  S.  Glass,  Los  Angeles. 
Mrs.  Benjamin  Goldman,  Los  Angeles. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  presented  a  partial  report  as  follows: 
RESOLVED:      That    Article    3    of    the    Constitution    of    this 

Conference  be  amended  to  read  as  follows:  — 

Membership  in  the  Conference  is  limited  to  persons  actually 

connected  with  Juvenile  Courts,  State   Institutions,  public  welfare 

15 


agencies,  and  such  private  institutions  and  organizations  as  have 
the  endorsement  of  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections 
or  of  local  endorsement  commissions  or  agencies,  where  such  body 
exists;  provided  that  any  person,  institution  or  association  actively 
interested  in  welfare  work  in  California  may  make  application  for 
membership  as  provided  in  section  4  of  Article  8  of  the  Constitution. 
Provided,  however,  that  this  action  shall  not  affect  present 
members  of  the  Conference  before  the  close  of  the  next  Annual 
Conference. 

This  resolution  was  proposed  by  the  Resolutions  Committee  and  formally 
adopted  by  the  Conference. 


RESOLVED:  That  a  section  to  be  numbered  Section  4  be 
added  to  Article  8  of  the  Constitution,  to  read  as  follows: — 

There  shall  be  appointed  by  the  President,  at  each  Annual 
Conference,  and  to  serve  until  the  close  of  the  ensuing  Annual 
Conference,  a  committee  of  five  on  membership  and  credentials, 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  receive,  examine  and  pass  upon  the  creden- 
tials of  applicants  for  membership  in  the  Conference,  not  definitely 
provided  for  in  Article  3  of  this  Constitution. 

This  resolution  was  proposed  by  the  Resolutions  Committee  and  formally 
adopted  by  the  Conference. 


RESOLVED:  That  a  section  to  be  numbered  Section  3  be 
added  to  article  8  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Conference,  to  read 
as  follows: — 

The  Executive  Committee  shall  within  five  months  after  the 
close  of  any  Annual  Conference  determine  upon  general  topics 
of  discussion  for  the  next  Annual  Conference.  Not  later  than  six 
months  after  the  close  of  any  Annual  Conference  the  President 
shall  appoint  a  Program  Committee  to  consist  of  members  who 
shall  be  chairmen  of  sub-committees.  There  shall  be  one  such 
sub-committee  for  each  general  topic  of  discussion  designated  by 
the  Executive  Committee.  Each  chairman  of  such  sub-committee 
shall  select  two  other  members  at  large  to  serve  on  his  committee. 
The  sub-committees  shall  report  to  the  Program  Committee  not 
later  than  sixty  days  before  the  opening  of  the  Annual  Conference, 
and  the  Program  Committee  shall  submit  all  arrangements  to  the 
Executive  Committee  for  its  approval  not  later  than  thirty  days 
before  the  opening  of  the  Annual  Conference.  The  Program  Com- 
mittee may  meet  at  any  place  designated  by  its  Chairman,  or  arrange- 
ments may  be  made  by  correspondence  with  the  general  secretary 
of  the  Conference. 

This  resolution  was  proposed  by  the  Resolutions  Committee  and  formally 
adopted  by  the  Conference. 


RESOLVED:     That  the  Executive  Committee  be  instructed 

and   authorized   to   secure   the    co-operation   of   other  state-wide 

organizations   of   social    workers   of    California,    and    to  arrange    a 

16 


joint  meeting  with  such  organizations;  that  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee be  also  instructed  to  work  out  a  plan  to  be  submitted  at 
the  next  Annual  Conference  for  the  consolidation  of  any  or  all 
such  organizations  into  a  single  state  conference  of  social  agencies. 
This  resolution  was  proposed  by  the  Resolutions  Committee  and  formally 
adopted  by  the  Conference. 


RESOLVED:      That   the  name  of   the   California   Conference 
of  Charities  and  Corrections  be  changed  to  the  California  State 
Conference  of  Social  Agencies. 
This  resolution  being  proposed  by  Mrs.  Carrie  P.  Bryant  and  amended 

by    the    Committee,    was    favorably    reported    and    formally    adopted    by    the 

Conference. 


RESOLVED:      That    this    Conference    do    regularly    endorse 
and   support   Senate   Bill    317,    introduced   by   Senator   Jones   and 
refered  to  the  Committee  on  Prisons  and  Reformatories,  to  estab- 
lish two  State  Farms  for  the  care  and  confinement  of  misdemean- 
ant prisoners  for  whom  the  present  law  provides    a    penalty    of 
imprisonment  in  a  county  jail  for  a  period  of  sixty  days  or  more. 
This  resolution  being  proposed  by  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Cor- 
rections, and  favorably  reported  by  the  Committee  was  formally  adopted  by 
the  Conference. 


RESOLVED:  That  this  Conference  do  regularly  endorse  and 
support  Senate  Bill  3 1 8,  introduced  by  Senator  Jones  and  referred 
to  the  Committee  on  Prisons  and  Reformatories,  to  increase  the 
power  of  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections  over 
County  Jails,  County  Almshouses  and  Hospitals,  County  Orphan- 
ages, County  Detention  Homes,  and  City  or  Town  Jails. 
This  resolution  being  proposed  by  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and 

Corrections,  and  favorably  reported  by  the  Committee,  was  formally  adopted 

by  the  Conference. 


RESOLVED:  That  this  Conference  do  regularly  endorse  and 
support  Assembly  Bill  232,  introduced  by  Mr.  Hawson,  to  remove 
the  statutory  limitation  upon  the  annual  expenses  of  the  State 
Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections,  and  having  the  practical  effect 
of  transferring  the  matter  of  appropriation  for  the  State  Board 
of  Charities  and  Corrections  from  a  special  to  the  general 
appropriation  bill ;  that  the  Conference  do  also  regularly  endorse  and 
support  the  effort  being  made  by  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and 
Corrections  to  secure  through  the  general  appropriation  bill  an 
appropriation  of  $40,000.00  for  the  next  biennial  period. 
This  resolution  being  proposed  by  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and 

Corrections,  and  favorably  reported  by  the  Committee,  was  formally  adopted 

by  the  Conference. 


WHEREAS,    Senate   Bill    1024   provides   for   the   abolition   of 
the    State    Board    of   Charities   and   Corrections,    without   making 

17 


any  provision  for  the  state  control  of  county  charities  and  cor- 
rections, or  of  boarding  homes  for  children,  or  of  maternity  hospi- 
tals, be  it  hereby 

RESOLVED:      That    this    Conference    do    express    its    disap- 
proval of  Senate  Bill    1024,   introduced  by  Senator  Benedict  and 
referred    to    the    Committee    on    Judiciary,    to    establish    a    State 
Board    of    Administration. 
This    resolution    being    proposed    by    the    State    Board   of    Charities    and 

Corrections,  and  favorably  reported  by  the  Committee  was  formally  adopted 

by  the  Conference. 


WHEREAS:  The  system  of  imposing  short  sentences  or  fines 
upon  convicted  prostitutes  is  ineffective,  both  in  protecting  society 
and  in  reforming  the  individual;  and 

WHEREAS:  The  rehabilitation  of  an  habitual  prostitute 
can  be  accomplished  if  at  all  only  by  a  long  course  of  humane  treat- 
ment in  a  well  equipped  institution;  and 

WHEREAS:  If  such  women  prove  incorrigible  they  should 
be  kept  in  permanent  humane  custody  for  their  own  and  others' 
protection;  and 

WHEREAS:  The  increasing  enforcement  of  laws  against 
prostitution  may  make  such  provision  by  the  State  an  increasing 
responsibility;  Therefore,  be  it 

RESOLVED:      That    this   Conference   approves   the   principle 
of   Assemblyman   Wright's   bill.    (Assembly   Bill    No.    729)   for   the 
establishment   of   a   State   Detention    Home   for   Women,    with 
indeterminate  custody,  industrial  training,  and  humane  treatment; 
recommending  that  the  institution  be  made  a  farm  colony  on  the 
cottage  plan,  after  the  best  models  for  such  institutions. 
This  resolution  being  proposed  by  Thomas  D.  Eliot  and  favorably  reported 
by  the  Committee  was  fprmally  adopted  by  the  Conference. 


RESOLVED:  That  the  Conference  do  regularly  endorse  and 
support  Senate  Bill  No.  347,  introduced  by  Senator  Thompson,  and 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Judiciary,  to  be  known  as  the 
Juvenile  Court  Law. 

This  resolution  being  proposed  by  the  Probation  Officers  at  the  Conference 
and  favorably  reported  by  the  Committee  was  formally  adopted  by  the  Conference 


WHEREAS:  The  migratory  laborers  of  the  State  are  housed 
for  a  certain  portion  of  each  year  in  the  labor  camps  of  the  State, 
and 

WHEREAS:  These  workers  constitute  a  large  percentage  of 
the  unemployed  in  the  cities  each  winter,  and 

WHEREAS:  Better  housing  and  living  conditions  would 
prevent  the  development  of  disease  which  endangers  the  entire 
State,  and 

WHEREAS:  The  development  of  health  and  contentment 
among  these  workers  would  tend  to  regularize  their  employment 
and  obviate  frequent  periods  of  unemployment; 

18 


NOW,  THEREFORE  BE  IT  RESOLVED,  That  the  assembled 
endorse  and  urge  the  passage  of  the  following  companion  bills, 
establishing  a  minimum  standard  of  sanitation  in  labor  camps 
and  providing  for  the  enforcement  of  the  law: — -Senate  Bill  No. 
903;  Assembly  Bill  No.  540.  (Referred  to  the  Committees  on 
Public  Health  and  Quarantine.) 

BE  IT  FURTHER  RESOLVED,  That  a  copy  of  this  resolu- 
tion be  forwarded  by  the  Secretary  to  their  excellencies,  the 
Governor,  Lieutenant  Governor,  Speaker  of  the  Assembly,  the 
honorable  members  of  the  State  Legislature  who  introduced  these 
bills,  and  to  the  members  of  the  committees  to,,  which  they  were 
referred. 

This  resolution  being  proposed  by  George  L.  Bell  and  reported  by  the 
Committee  was  formally  adopted  by  the  Conference  with  the  proviso  that  this 
Bill  (Assembly  Bill  No.  540)  shall  not  apply  to  labor  camps  inside  incorporated 
limits  of  San  Francisco  and  Los  Angeles. 


WHEREAS:  The  campaign  for  the  passage  of  The  Red 
Light  Abatement  Law  has  aroused  the  enlightened  public  opinion 
of  the  State  against  commercialized  exploitation  of  the  social  evil, 
especially  during  the  influx  of  visitors  during  the  Exposition  year, 
and 

WHEREAS:  The  facts  of  its  passage  and  upholding  by  the 
courts  already  had  salutary  effect  in  many  counties,  merely  by 
virtue  of  the  threat  that  this  implies; 

THEREFORE,   BE   IT  RESOLVED:     That  this  Conference 
believing  in  the  suppression  of  commercialized  vice  to  its  minimum, 
urges  its  members  to  secure  the  enforcement  of  the  Abatement 
Law  against  notorious  places  by  district  attorneys  or  by  citizens, 
in  order  that  this  law  may  continue  effective  and  the  check  .given 
by  it  to  the  tenderloin  interests  may  become  permanent. 
This  resolution  being  proposed  by  Thomas  D.  Eliot  and  favorably  reported 
by  the  Committee  was  formally  adopted  by  the  Conference. 


Wednesday,  March  3rd,  at  9:15  p.  m.,  Second  Vice-President  Sanford 
called  the  Conference  to  order  for  a  business  session.  The  Committee  on  Reso- 
lutions presented  its  final  report: 

RESOLVED:  That  the  Conference  express  its  appreciation 
and  thanks  to  the  City  of  Fresno  for  the  use  of  its  Auditorium 
and  Council  Chambers;  to  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  for  the 
use  of  its  building;  to  the  Hotel  Fresno  for  providing  headquarters 
for  the  Conference,  for  the  reception  so  kindly  tendered  the  mem- 
bers, and  for  the  many  courtesies  the  management  has  shown;  to 
the  Union  Choir  for  furnishing  music  at  the  Sunday  meetings; 
to  the  Press  of  the  City  for  its  full  and  intelligent  reports  of  the 
sessions;  to  the  Fresno  Conventions  Committee  for  its  generous 
financial  assistance;  to  the  Local  Committee  for  making  arrange- 
ments and  to  the  People  of  Fresno  for  their  interest  in  our  meetings. 

This  resolution  being  proposed  by  the  Committee  was  formally  adopted 
by  the  Conference. 

19 


RESOLVED:  That  the  Conference  regularly  endorse  and 
support  Senate  Bill  No.  735  introduced  by  Senator  Strowbridge 
and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Education  to  strenghten  the 
Compulsory  Education  Law. 

This  resolution  being  proposed  by  Mr.  Ruess  and  favorably   reported  by 
the  Committee  was  formally  adopted. 


RESOLVED:  That  the  Conference  regularly  endorse  and 
support  Senate  Bill  No.  427  introduced  by  Senator  Thompson  and 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Education  to  provide  for  home 
teachers. 

This  resolution  being  proposed  by  Mr.  Ruess  and  favorably  reported  by 
the  Committee  was  formally  adopted. 


RESOLVED:  That  the  Conference  appoint  a  committee  to 
consist  of  Dr.  Milbank  Johnson,  Mrs.  Carrie  P.  Bryant,  and  Mr. 
Fred  L.  Shaw,  with  power  to  act,  on  behalf  of  the  Conference, 
with  reference  to  Senate  Bill  No.  888  and  Assembly  Bill  No.  1081, 
companion  Bills  to  establish  County  boards  of  Charities  and  Cor- 
rections. 

This  resolution  being  proposed  by  Mr.  Ruess  and  favorably  reported  by 
the  Committee  was  formally  adopted. 


For  a  resolution  proposed  by  Dr.  Lucas  that  the  Conference  endorse  a 
proposed  bill  to  establish  a  commission  in  mental  hygiene,  there  was  substituted 
by  the  Committee  the  following  resolution. : 

RESOLVED:  That  the  Conference  recommend  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  commission  to  make  a  study  of  defectives  generally, 
such  study  and  observation  to  be  made  to  the  end  that  a  definite 
plan  may  be  arrived  at  whereby  these  persons  may  receive  proper 
care  and  society  generally  be  protected  from  the  baneful  influence 
of  evil  inheritance. 
This  substitute  resolution  was  formally  adopted  by  the  Conference. 


For  a  resolution  presented  by  Charles  Henry  Cheney,  endorsing  Senate 
Bill  No.  455,  Senate  Bill  No.  679,  Assembly  Bill  458,  Assembly  Bill  No.  924, 
Assembly  Bill  No.  925  and  Senate  Bill  No.  1084.  there  was  substituted  by  the 
Committee  the  following  resolution: 

RESOLVED:     That  this  Conference  endorse  the  principle  of 

City  Planning. 

This  substitute  resolution  was  formally  adopted  by  the  Conference. 


RESOLVED:  That  this  Conference  authorize  the  Chairman 
of  the  section  on  "Social  Work  for  the  Church1'  in  conjunction 
with  a  committee,  consisting  of  Mr.  Christopher  Ruess  and  Rev. 
E.  L.  Parsons,  appointed  in  accordance  with  the  action  of  the  section 
at  its  meeting  Tuesday  afternoon,  March  2nd,  to  address  a  commun- 
ication to  religious  organizations  throughout  the  State  urging  a 
greater  interest  in  social  problems  and  pointing  out  ways  in  which 

20 


the  churches  may  be  of  the  greatest  help;  that  they  urge  the  various 
church  bodies  to  hold  such  conferences  as  will  be  held  for  the  benefit 
of  their  social  workers  in  conjunction  with  the  California  Conference 
of  Social  Agencies. 

This  resolution  being  proposed  by  Rev.  Thomas  C.  Marshall  and  favorably 
reported  by  the  Committee  was  formally  adopted. 


RESOLVED:  That  the  Conference  heartily  approve  of  and 
urge  the  passage  of  Assembly  Bill  No.  788  extending  State  aid  for 
orphans  and  half-orphans  and  abandoned  children,  whether  in 
institutions  or  family  homes  from  fourteen  (14)  to  fifteen  (15)  years 
of  age. 

This  resolution  being  proposed  by  Mr.   Sessions  and  favorably  reported 
by  the  Committee  was  formally  adopted  by  the  Conference. 


Resolved:  That  the  Conference  express  its  opposition  to 
Assembly  Bill  No.  117  introduced  by  Mr.  Hawson  and  referred 
to  the  Committee  on  Judiciary,  a  proposed  amendment  of  the  juvenile 
court  law  modifying  adoption  proceedings. 

This  resolution  being  proposed  by  Mr.  Ruess  and  favorably  reported  by 
the  Committee  was  formally  adopted  by  the  Conference. 


WHEREAS:  The  State  Home  for  the  Feeble-Minded  at 
Sonoma  can  now  accommodate  no  more  than  its  present  quota, 
about  1100,  out  of  the  total  number  in  the  State;  and 

WHEREAS:  That  institution  now  has  a  large  interest  of 
land  which  is  not  being  used  to  its  full  capacity,  and 

WHEREAS:  There  is  great  need  of  an  industrial  and  educa- 
tional system  such  as  exists  in  the  best  institutions  for  similar 
purposes  in  other  states,  and 

WHEREAS:  There  is  urgent  demand  for  this  protection  and 
education  for  the  high-grade  feeble-minded  especially; 

THEREFORE,  BE  IT  RESOLVED:  That  this  Conference 
endorse  the  bill  known  as  Assembly  Bill  No.  671,  to  establish  an 
educational  and  industrial  system  at  Eldridge  under  a 
trained  educational  director. 

This  resolution  being  proposed  by  Thomas  D.  Eliot  and  favorably  reported 
by  the  Committee  was  formally  adopted  by  the  Conference. 


RESOLVED:  That  the  California  Conference  of  Charities  and 
Corrections  heartily  endorse  the  establishment  in  Southern  Cali- 
fornia of  a  Home  for  the  care  and  training  of  feeble-minded 
and  defective  persons  and  provision  for  the  maintenance  of  the  same. 

This  is  a  resolution  presented  by  Dr.  Lucas  and  Mrs.  Bryant,  as  amended 
by  the  Committee  on  Resolutions.  Being  so  amended  and  favorably  reported 
it  was  formally  adopted  by  the  Conference. 


RESOLVED:     That  this  Conference  do  regularly  endorse  and 
support  Senate  Bill   No.    518,   introduced  by  Senator  Butler,   and 

21 


referred  to  the  Committee  on  Judiciary,  to  amend  Section  270 
of  the  Penal  Code. 

This   resolution   being   proposed   by   Mr.    George   L.    Bell   and   favorably 
reported  by  the  Committee  was  formally  adopted  by  the  Conference. 


WHEREAS:  experience  during  the  past  winter  in  various 
cities  and  counties  has  shown  that  the  best  results  in  affording 
relief  to  destitute  unemployed  can  be  obtained  by  the  local  municipal 
and  county  governments  carrying  out  a  uniform  plan,  and  using  the 
state  government  as  a  clearing-house; 

NOW,  THEREFORE  BE  IT  RESOLVED,  that  the  assembled 
endorse  the  following  general  principles  in  affording  relief  for 
destitute  unemployed: — 

(1)  That  the  various  cities  and  counties  should  endeavor  to 
agree  upon  a  general,  uniform  plan  of  relief,  and  to  this  purpose 
shall  use  some  department  of  the  state  government  as  a  clearing-house; 

(2)  That  each  city  and  county  government  should  endeavor 
to  furnish  work  with  pay,  or  shelter  and  food  in  return  for 
work,  to  destitute  unemployed  within  its  confines,  giving  preference 
in  all  instances  to  resident  unemployed  with  dependents. 

(3)  That  a   rigid   work  test  should  be  enforced   in  all   in- 
stances where  food  and  shelter  are  furnished,  and  that,  so  far  as  is 
possible,  this  work  should  be  of  a  constructive  or  productive  nature. 

BE  IT  FURTHER  RESOLVED:  That  a  copy  of  this  resolu- 
tion be  forwarded  by  the  Secretary  to  their  excellencies,  the  Governor, 
Lieutenant  Governor,  Speaker  of  the  Assembly,  the  honorable 
members  of  the  State  Legislature,  each  Board  of  County  Supervisors 
in  the  State,  and  to  the  mayors  of  the  thirty  largest  cities  of  the  State. 
This  resolution  being  proposed  by  Mr.  George  L.  Bell  and  favorably 
reported  by  the  Committee  was  formally  adopted  by  the  Conference. 


WHEREAS:  The  problem  of  unemployment  among  migratory 
workers  in  seasonal  industries  is  growing  to  be  a  most  serious  problem; 
and 

WHEREAS:  This  problem  will  be  alleviated  by  an  inter- 
change of  migratory  workers  from  one  part  of  the  State  to  the  other 
where  work  is  to  be  had; 

NOW,  THEREFORE,  BE  IT  RESOLVED:     By  the  Confer- 
ence of  Charities  and  Corrections  that  we  favor  the  creation  of 
State  Labor  Exchanges  in  the  centers  of  population  in  the  State 
and  that  we  request  the  present  Legislature  to  enact  such  a  law. 
This  resolution  being  proposed  by  E.  Guy  Talbott  and  favorably  reported 
by  the  Committee  was  formally  adopted  by  the  Conference. 


WHEREAS:  There  have  been  introduced  in  the  Legislature 
the  following  companion  bills,  creating  state  labor  exchanges  or  free 
employment  offices  under  the  control  of  the  Commission  of  Immigra- 
tion and  Housing,  and 

WHEREAS:  It  is  the  sense  of  this  Conference  that  the  estab- 
lishment of  these  exchanges  will  constitute  a  definite  step  toward 

22 


the  solution  of  the  Unemployment  problem.   (Senate  Bill  No.  349, 
Assembly  Bill  No.  356;  referred  to  Committees  on  Labor  and  Capital). 

NOW,  THEREFORE,   BE   IT  RESOLVED,  That  this  Con- 
ference assembled  endorse  and  urge  the  passage  of  these  bills;  and 

BE  IT  FURTHER  RESOLVED:  That  a  copy  of  this  resolution 
be  forwarded  by  the  Secretary  to  their  excellencies,  the  Governor, 
Lieutenant    Governor,    Speaker    of    the    Assembly,    the    honorable 
"members  of  the   State    Legislature  who  introduced  these  bills  and 
to  the  members  of  the  committees  to  which  they  were  referred. 
This  resolution  being  proposed  by  George  L.   Bell  and  unfavorably  re- 
ported by  the  Committee,  was  formally  rejected  by  the  Conference. 


WHEREAS:  There  have  been  introduced  in  the  Legislature 
the  following  bills,  which  will  aid  in  making  more  sanitary  and 
wholesome  the  homes,  particularly  of  poorer  people;  and 

WHEREAS:  The  bringing  about  of  such  conditions  will  pro- 
duce health  and  happiness,  lessen  delinquency,  and  crime  and  thus 
indirectly,  obviate  frequent  periods  of  umenployment; 

NOW,  THEREFORE,  BE  IT  RESOLVED:  That,  though  the 
assembled  are  not  prepared  to  endorse  all  the  details  of  the  bills, 
owing  to  lack  of  time  for  study,  yet  they  do  endorse  the  general 
principle  of  the  passage  of  state  laws  requiring  a  minimum  standard 
of  sanitation  in  one  and  two  family  dwellings  inasmuch  as  the  real 
state  housing  problem  deals  with  this  class  of  houses; 

AND.  FURTHERMORE,  the  assembled  do  endorse  the  bills  in 
so  far  as  the  state  housing  authorities  are  given  power  to  enforce 
the  state  housing  laws  in  the  cities  where  the  local  authorities  do 
not  enforce  those  laws. 

DWELLING  HOUSE  ACT 

Senate  Bill  No.  1138;  Committee  on  Public  Health  and  Quarantine. 
Assembly  Bill  No.   1267;  Committee  on  Judiciary. 

AMENDMENT  OF  THE  TENEMENT  HOUSE  ACT 
Senate  Bill  No.  988;  Committee  on  Public  Health  and  Quarantine. 
Assembly  Bill  No.   1299;  Committee  on  Judiciary. 
AMENDMENT  OF  THE  HOTEL  AND  LODGING  HOUSE  ACT 
Senate  Bill  No.  1097;  Committee  on  Public  Health  and  Quarantine. 
Assembly  Bill  No.  1129;  Committee  on  Judiciary. 

BE  IT  FURTHER  RESOLVED,    That  a  copy  of  this  resolu- 
tion be  forwarded  by  the  Secretary  to  their  excellencies,  the  Governor, 
Lieutenant    Governor,    Speaker    of    the    Assembly,    the    honorable 
members  of  the  State  Legislature  who  introduced  these  bills  and  to 
the  members  of  the  committees  to  which  they  were  referred. 
This  resulution  being  proposed  by  George  L.  Bell  and  reported  by     the 
Committee    without    recommendation    was    by    motion    regularly    seconded    and 
passed,  laid  on  the  table. 


Resolved:  That  the  name  of  the  Detention  Home  be  changed 
to  that  of  Children's  Building. 

This  resolution  being  unfavorably  reported  by  the  Committee  was  for- 
mally rejected  by  the  Conference. 

23 


RESOLVED:  That  the  California  Conference  of  Charities  and 
Corrections  heartily  endorse  the  North-South  Child  Labor  Bill 
(Assembly  Bill  No.  388,  Senate  Bill  No.  257); 

BE  IT  FURTHER  RESOLVED,  that  the  Secretaiy  of  this 
Conference  is  hereby  instructed  to  send  copies  of  this  resolution  to 
the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Labor  and  Capital  of  the  Assem- 
bly and  of  the  Senate. 

This  resolution  being  proposed  by  Mrs.   Carrie  P.   Bryant  and  reported 
by  the  Committee  was  formally  adopted. 


WHEREAS:  The  annual  convention  of  the  American  Prison 
Association  and  its  various  auxiliaries  is  to  be  held  in  Oakland  the 
first  week  in  October,  1915,  at  which  delegates  from  all  the  countries 
and  states  of  North  and  South  America  will  attend,  and  at  which 
speakers  of  national  and  international  fame  will  present  all  phases 
of  work  pertaining  to  crime  and  criminals,  and  at  which  it  is  desired 
there  should  be  a  large  attendance  and  to  this  end,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Social  Workers  Association  of  Alameda  County  a  conference 
of  social  workers  of  the  states  of  the  Pacific  slope,  has  been  called  to 
be  held  in  Oakland  the  last  three  days  in  September,  1915,  to  which 
all  persons  dealing  with  crime  and  criminals  in  the  states  of  the 
Pacific  slope  have  been  invited,  and  for  which  a  splendid  local  pro- 
gram has  already  been  partially  arranged  with  the  intention  of 
providing  a  double  incentive  for  our  Western  workers  to  be  present; 

THEREFORE,  BE  IT  RESOLVED:  That  it  is  the  sense  of 
the  Conference  of  Charities  and  Corrections  now  in  convention  in 
Fresno,  that  we  heartily  endorse  the  said  conference  of  social 
Workers  of  the  Pacific  slope  states  to  be  held  in  Oakland  the 
last  three  days  in  September,  1915,  and  urge  all  our  delegates  to 
make  every  effort  to  attend  said  conference; 

AND  BE  IT  FURTHER  RESOLVED:  In  accordance  with 
the  wishes  of  the  officers  of  the  Panama  Pacific  International  Ex- 
position that  a  committee  from  this  Conference  be  appointed  to  co- 
operate with  the  Committee  of  the  Social  Workers  Association  of 
Alameda  County,  in  their  effort  to  secure  a  large  attendance  at  both 
conventions  and  make  them  the  greatest  success  possible. 

This  resolution  being  proposed  by  Capt.   William   I.   Day  and  favorably 
reported  by  the  Committee  was  formally  adopted  by  the  Conference. 


Mr.  Astredo  stated  that  this  completed  the  report  of  the  Resolutions 
Committee. 

It  was  moved  by  Mr.  Ruess,  regularly  seconded  and  passed,  that  the 
Conference  give  power  to  the  Executive  Committee  in  its  discretion  to  co-operate 
with  other  organizations  and  to  circularize  social  workers  and  others  and  to 
employ  if  possible  a  legislative  representative  at  the  present  Legislature  in  order 
to  secure  favorable  action  on  the  various  bills  which  the  Conference  has  approved 
and  if  necessary  for  this  purpose  to  dispense  with  the  publication  of  the  proceedings. 

There  being  no  further  business  the  Conference  adjourned  sine  die. 
24 


MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION  AND  CONTROL  OF 

CHARITIES 
The  Kansas  City  Plan 

MR.  L.  A.  HALBERT 

In  outlining  a  program  for  a  city,  it  is  necessary  to  find  what  is  the  proper 
field  of  charitable  endeavor  as  between  city,  county,  state  and  national  govern- 
ments, I  should  say  that  we  must  select  that  unit  of  government,  whether  it  be 
city,  county  or  state,  which  has  a  large  enough  number  of  cases  of  a  given  type, 
to  justify  a  special  institution  for  that  type  of  people,  before  we  start  an  insti- 
tution. Naturally,  a  city  which  had  only  two  or  three  cases  of  insanity  in  a  year, 
would  not  need  a  hospital  for  the  insane,  and  it  is  usually  necessary  to  gather 
this  type  of  cases  from  a  whole  state  and  establish  a  state  institution,  but  certain 
very  large  cities,  such  as  St.  Louis,  even  have  municipal  hospitals  for  the  insane. 
On  the  other  hand,  when  every  city  of  any  importance  has  a  large  problem  of 
homeless  men  out  of  employment,  it  would  be  foolish  to  think  of  establishing  a 
state  institution  in  which  to  congregate  100,000  men,  gathered  from  various 
parts  of  the  state,  and  it  is  necessary  to  have  a  municipal  lodging  house, 
such  as  they  have  recently  started  in  Fresno.  If  there  are  enough  cases  of  a  given 
type  to  warrant  a  specialized  institution  in  a  city,  it  is  usually  easier  to  get  some 
action  to  establish  such  an  institution  from  the  city  than  it  is  to  appeal  to  any 
larger  unit  because  the  citizens  are  locally  face  to  face  with  the  problem  and 
appreciate  the  need  and  respond  more  readily  with  action  to  meet  the  need. 
Sometimes,  however,  when  a  given  city  provides  for  a  certain  class  of  people, 
such  as  widows,  it  has  a  tendency  to  attract  people  of  that  type  to  the  city  and 
to  shift  an  undue  proportion  of  the  burden  onto  that  city,  as  compared  with  the 
country  and  the  other  towns  and  cities.  Where  there  is  danger  of  this,  of  course, 
there  must  be  state  action  or  some  city  action  to  give  these  benefits  only  to  such 
local  people  as  constitute  a  proper  burden  on  the  city  doing  special  charity  work. 
The  unemployed,  who  are  farm  hands  in  the  summer  time,  or  are  engaged  in 
building  railroads  in  all  parts  of  the  state,  tend  to  congregate  in  the  cities,  but 
the  benefit  of  supporting  such  a  supply  of  transient  labor  accrues  to  the  state 
at  large  and  not  to  the  city.  The  problem  of  handling  the  unemployed  therefore 
is  a  state  and  national  problem  and  the  cities  must  protect  themselves  from 
carrying  this  burden  exclusively. 

I  think  these  illustrations  and  principles  indicate  the  general  line  on  which 
we  should  determine  a  field  of  charity  for  the  city  as  contrasted  with  the  county 
and  the  state. 

It  is  necessary  also  to  draw  some  line  of  demarcation  between  the  field 
of  the  municipality,  or  the  government,  and  the  field  of  private  enterprise  in 
charity  work.  I  believe  that  the  government  should  provide  for  the  necessities 
of  life,  such  as  food  and  shelter  for  everybody,  but  always  on  the  condition  that 
they  do  their  part.  There  are,  however,  many  forms  of  assistance,  such  as  vaca- 
tions and  outings,  flowers  and  delicacies  for  the  sick,  scholarships  for  poor  young 
people  who  are  ambitious  to  get  an  education,  and  other  things  that  raise  the 
standard  of  living  for  the  poor  above  the  point  of  existence,  and  I  would  regard 
these  to  be  the  most  suitable  field  for  private  philanthropy.  Let  the  necessities 

25 


be  supplied  by  the  government  but  the  opportunities  for  refinement  and  happi- 
ness be  open  to  the  poor  by  private  philanthropy.  Of  course,  it  goes  without 
saying,  that  all  these  things  should  be  within  reach  of  working  people  as  a  result 
of  their  earnings,  unless  they  are  overtaken  with  some  special  misfortune. 

Having  defined  the  field  of  municipal  charity,  let  us  proceed  with  the 
construction  of  a  program  for  the  city.  In  making  such  a  program,  we  should 
observe  the  following  general  principles: — 

(1)  The  city  should  survey  all  of  its  social  needs  and  resources  and  keep 
such  a  record  of  its  entire  population  as  to  know  the  extent  of  need  there  is  in 
the  community. 

(2)  The  city's  machinery  should  be  extensive  enough  so  that  it  would 
guarantee  to  take  every  case  of  need  known  from  its  own  studies  to  exist  in  the 
city,  or  every  case  that  could  be  referred  to  it  by  any  citizen,  and  guarantee  to 
make  some  reasonably  satisfactory  disposition  of  it.     There  should  be  no  such 
word  as  "can't"  in  this  matter. 

(3)  The  community   is   responsible   to  examine   the   working  conditions 
and  living  conditions  and  the  amusements  of  the  community  so  as  to  guarantee 
that  every  unjust  and  unreasonable  handicap  and  injurious  influence  has  been 
removed  and  the  people  have  a  good  environment  in  which  to  live  and  work  and 
play.     All  this  is  on  the  theory  that  prevention  is  better  than  cure. 

(4)  The  agencies  for  dealing  with  the  poor,  the  sick,  and  the  delinquent, 
should  be  concentrated  in  one  department,  because  these  problems  are  so  inter- 
related and  the  same  people  are  often  found  in  different  forms  of  distress  and  the 
same  agency  which  has  to  care  for  these  unfortunate  people  should  be  given  the 
power  and  authority  to  remedy  any  unjust  or  unfavorable  conditions  that  have 
tended  to  produce  their  distress,  so  the  agencies  of  relief,  or  reconstruction  and 
prevention,    should  be  welded  together  into  one  consistent  whole.      This  idea 
of  having  a  comprehensive  department  is  illustrated  in  the  work  of  the  Kansas 
City  Board  of  Public  Welfare. 

(5)  The  work  of  the  community  in  these  lines  must  be  scientific  and 
efficient.     This  means  trained  workers  with  continuous  service.    It  means  experts 
and  professional  social  workers. 

In  order  to  have  a  unified  program  and  harmonious  action,  and  to  insure 
honesty  and  efficiency  in  the  private  charities,  there  should  be  inspection  and 
supervision  of  private  charities  by  the  cities,  as  is  so  well  illustrated  by  the  work 
of  the  Los  Angeles  Charities  Commission. 

The  Board  of  Public  Welfare  of  Kansas  City  is  built  along  the  lines  which 
I  have  just  outlined.  We  have  a  Research  Department,  which  has  made  thorough 
study  along  the  following  lines: 

(1)  The  charitable  needs  and  resources  of  Kansas  City.       A  survey  of 
all  the  public  and  private  charities  in  the  city. 

(2)  The  problem  of  unemployment.     A  survey  of  employment  bureaus, 
public  and  private,  of  the  fluctuations  in  all  the  leading  industries,  and  of  the 
circumstances  of  thousands  of  individual  cases  of  unemployed  men. 

(3)  Wage-earning  women.     A  survey  of  wages,  hours  and  working  con- 
ditions of  women  in  all  the  stores  and  factories  of  Kansas  City  and  study  of  the 
individual  problems  and  histories  of  4000  girls. 

(4)  The  recreational  facilities  and  needs  of  Kansas  City.     A  survey  con- 
ducted by  the  Playground  and  Recreation  Association  of  America,  but  assisted 
largely  by  the  Board  of  Public  Welfare  Workers  and  published  by  the  Board. 

26 


(5)  The  social  evil  in  Kansas  City.     A  detailed  study  of  over  100  houses 
of  prostitution  which  existed  in  Kansas  City  in  1910  and  a  study  of  the  personal 
history  of  about  500  inmates. 

(6)  Housing  Conditions  in  Kansas  City.     A  complete  study  of  a  district 
containing  about  15,000  residences  and  covering  all  the  older  part  of  town,  show- 
ing the  facts  in  regard  to  light,  air,  water,  sanitation,  repairs,  etc. 

(7)  Industrial  accidents  in  Kansas  City.    A  complete  study  of  the  physical, 
financial  and  social  results  of   100  accidents  which  occurred  in  the  factories  of 
Kansas  City. 

(8)  The  cost  of  housing  working  men  in  Kansas  City.     A  detailed  study 
of  the  income,  value  and  cost  in  every  detail  concerning  350  houses  of  various 
types  and  districts,  not  yet  published. 

(9)  Child  labor.     A  summary  of  the  violations  of  the  Child  Labor  Law 
found  in  the  last  three  years.     A  study  of  the  street  trades  and  a  study  of  what 
happened  to  all  the  children  who  graduated  from  grade  schools  in  a  given  year 
in  Kansas  City,  not  yet  published. 

The  educational  effect  of  these  studies  has  been  tremendous  and  legis- 
lative changes  and  improvements  in  administrative  policies  have  come  about 
as  a  result. 

To  meet  the  needs  of  the  community,  the  Board  recognizes  and  endorses 
the  work  of  forty-three  private  charitable  institutions.  It  has  furnished  during 
the  most  of  its  history,  ten  trained  social  workers  to  do  the  work  of  investigating 
and  rehabilitating  families  which  have  applied  for  help  to  the  various  private 
charities  of  the  city,  and  has  operated  a  clearing  house,  or  registration  bureau, 
for  the  exchange  of  information  about  cases  between  all  these  institutions. 

It  also  promoted  several  hundred  vacant  lot  gardens  for  the  poor,  but 
this  work  has  now  been  taken  over  by  the  agricultural  expert  in  charge  of  school 
gardens  for  the  Board  of  Education. 

The  Board  has  a  Free  Legal  Aid  Bureau  which  collects  the  just  claims 
of  the  poor  and  prevents  their  being  defrauded  and  handles  6,000  to  7,000  cases 
per  year  at  an  average  cost  of  less  than  $1.00  per  case. 

The  Board  operates  a  Welfare  Loan  Agency  which  now  has  about  1600 
live  accounts  and  $88,000  outstanding  in  loans.  The  capital  is  all  furnished  by 
a  private  citizen  who  was  formerly  president  of  the  Board  and  the  arrangement 
is  that  after  all  expenses  are  paid,  he  is  to  receive  6%  for  his  money.  He  was 
unable  to  do  this  at  first  but  the  agency  is  now  on  a  paying  basis. 

As  a  result  of  complaints  made  by  the  housing  inspectors,  thousands  of 
dollars  worth  of  improvements  are  made  on  houses  of  the  poor  annually. 

Our  Free  Employment  Bureau  got  31,600  jobs  for  the  unemployed  last 
year.  Our  Municipal  Quarry  furnishes  work  to  several  hundreds  of  men  per 
day  at  the  present  time  and  the  men  are  psid  in  meals  and  lodgings  if  they  are 
homeless  men,  and  are  paid  in  grocery  orders  if  they  have  families.  In  a  similar 
way,  we  have  recently  commenced  to  operate  a  sewing  room  for  unemployed  women. 

For  men  and  women  who  are  temporarily  stranded  and  unable  to  work, 
we  furnish  free  meals  and  lodgings  at  the  Helping  Hand  Institute. 

Our  Board  grants  relief  to  prisoners'  families  while  the  men  are  in  prison. 
We  make  weekly  collections  in  cases  where  men  have  been  neglecting  their  wives 
and  families  and  last  year  these  amounted  to  between  $14,000  and  $15,000. 

Our  Factory  Inspection  Department  enforces  the  labor  laws, .and  promotes 
27 


improvements  in  the  working  conditions  of  the  people  and  has  caused  100  safe- 
guards to  be  put  on  dangerous  machinery. 

In  the  matter  of  caring  for  the  delinquent  people  of  the  city,  we  send 
some  one  to  all  the  city  prisoners  who  are  waiting  trial  in  the  police  court  and 
offer  to  send  word  to  their  friends  or  to  anybody  necessary  to  assist  them  in  their 
defense.  If  they  are  convicted  and  are  unable  to  pay  their  fines,  they  are  com- 
mitted to  the  Municipal  Farm  or  Women's  Reformatory,  both  of  which  insti- 
tutions are  in  charge  of  the  Board  of  Public  Welfare.  In  these  institutions,  we 
have  a  merit  system  with  good  time  allowed  for  good  conduct,  and  we  have 
productive  industries  that  produce  values  enough  to  cover  most  of  the  cost  of 
operation.  The  men  have  outdoor  work  and  do  not  wear  shackles,  and  a  good 
many  have  the  freedom  of  the  farm  without  any  guard.  They  have  thorough 
medical  attention  and  have  a  certain  amount  of  weekly  entertainment  and  games 
and  have  good  religious  services. 

The  Parole  Department  assists  the  Board  in  selecting  those  who  should 
be  paroled  from  these  institutions  and  gives  them  supervision.  This  power  is 
exercised  very  freely  and  several  hundred  people  are  always  on  parole. 

In  order  to  stop  vice  and  moral  delinquency  at  as  early  a  stage  in  its 
development  as  possible,  the  city  has  provided  that  the  Board  should  exercise 
thorough  supervision  of  the  commercial  recreation  of  the  city.  No  public  dance 
can  be  operated  without  a  permit  from  the  Board  and  an  inspector  is  sent  to 
every  dance.  No  liquor  is  allowed  in  connection  with  the  dance  halls,  rough 
and  undesirable  characters  are  excluded.  Young  girls  of  16  years  or  under  are 
reported  to  their  parents,  and  a  reasonable  closing  hour  is  always  enforced.  Similar 
supervision  is  exercised  over  the  skating  rinks.  The  Recreation  Department  also 
exercises  censorship  over  all  motion  picture  films  in  the  city.  Considerable  study 
and  educational  work  has  been  done  in  connection  with  the  pool  halls  of  the 
city  and  an  ordinance  was  proposed  at  one  time  for  closer  supervision  of  these 
but  has  not  yet  become  a  law. 

All  cases  of  delinquency,  not  only  from  police  court,  but  from  the  justice 
court  and  criminal  court  and  juvenile  court,  are  recorded,  and  these  cases,  to- 
gether with  the  charity  cases,  are  indexed  by  street  and  number,  as  well  as  alpha- 
betically, so  that  the  exact  character  of  the  city  can  be  indicated  from  the  records 
of  crime  and  poverty,  and  from  the  records  of  the  Recreation  Department,  and 
the  survey  made  by  the  Research  Bureau.  Constructive  plans  for  the  various 
communities  are  based  on  the  data  accumulated  in  this  way. 

All  the  employees  of  the  Board  of  Public  Welfare  are  chosen  on  a  Civil 
Service  merit  basis  and  forms  of  promotion  exist  in  several  of  the  departments. 
We  maintain  continuously  a  school  for  training  the  workers  of  the  Board  and 
other  social  workers  of  the  city.  Classes  meet  daily  at  4:30  o'clock,  and  the 
employees  are  given  relief  from  their  work  during  the  last  half  hour  of  the  day 
so  that  they  can  attend  these  lectures  whenever  they  cover  the  lines  not  already 
familiar  to  the  workers.  In  the  various  responsible  places  connected  with  the 
Board's  work,  we  have  twelve  college  graduates. 

Since  the  organization  of  our  Board  of  Public  Welfare  in  1910,  similar 
departments  have  been  established  in  Cleveland  and  Dayton,  Ohio,  Chicago, 
Ills.,  St.  Joseph  and  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  Denver,  Colo.,  Duluth,  Minn.,  Omaha,  Nebr., 
and  various  other  places,  and  agitation  for  such  departments  has  also  been  carried 
on  in  a  good  many  other  cities.  I  believe  that  the  plan  illustrates  workable 
principles  for  the  municipal  organization  and  control  of  charities  and  corrections. 

28 


The  Berkeley  Plan 

REV.  EDWARD  L.  PARSONS 

It  must  be  remembered  in  discussing  the  municipal  organization  and  con- 
trol of  charities  in  Berkeley  that  Berkeley  is  a  small  city  of  fifty  to  sixty  thousand 
people.  Furthermore  the  system  in  use  there  has  grown  up  under  the  guidance 
of  the  same  group  of  persons  who  were  responsible  for  the  beginning  of  any 
organized  charity.  It  has  had  no  obstacles  to  contend  with,  due  to  the  existence 
of  large  and  long  established  private  charities.  The  Commission  of  Public  Charities 
was  organized  only  a  few  years  after  the  city  grew  large  enough  to  require  any 
such  work. 

With  such  preface  let  me  attempt  to  put  before  you  briefly  the  history 
and  method  of  organization. 

Up  to  1906  when  the  city  numbered  twenty  to  twenty-five  thousand  people, 
the  only  charity  work  was  done  independently  by  churches  and  fraternal  orders 
and  by  one  small  society  of  volunteer  workers.  Such  county  aid  as  was  given 
was  administered  directly  by  the  Supervisors  or  through  the  Oakland  Associated 
Charities.  With  the  earthquake  and  fire,  conditions  changed.  Many  thousands 
of  refugees  came  to  Berkeley,  a  large  number  of  whom  remained  there  perma- 
nently. The  Relief  Committee  after  finishing  in  June,  1906,  the  first  heavy 
demands  upon  its  work  and  resources,  found  it  necessary  to  establish  a  permanent 
Administrative  Committee  to  direct  the  distribution  of  the  funds  to  those 
refugees  who  had  as  yet  been  unable  to  re-establish  themselves  in  work.  In  the 
course  of  the  following  winter  it  became  clear  that  some  of  these  refugees  would 
become  permanent  charges  upon  the  community  and  these  added  to  the  many 
cases  needing  relief  among  the  older  residents  led  to  the  establishment,  at  the 
suggestion  of  the  Relief  Committee,  of  the  Charity  Organization  Society.  The 
organization  of  this  Society  was  completed  about  a  year  after  the  earthquake 
and  the  Relief  Committee  having  wound  up  its  affairs,  transferred  to  the  Society 
the  balance  of  its  funds.  The  Charity  Organization  Society  then  took  up  the 
work  and  it  soon  became  apparent  that  considerable  systematic  relief  work  was 
absolutely  necessary. 

In  1908  the  city  adopted  a  new  charter  establishing  a  commission  form 
of  government.  In  the  charter  provision  was  made  for  the  appointment  of  a 
Commission  of  Public  Charities.  In  February,  1910,  after  careful  consideration 
the  Council  passed  an  ordinance  establishing  the  Commission  for  which  the 
charter  provided.  The  duties  of  the  Commission  as  defined  in  the  ordinance 
(which  is  too  detailed  to  be  quoted  in  full)  may  be  classified  as  of  four  kinds, 
(1)  It  is  advisory  to  the  City  Council  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  charity  and 
relief  work;  (2)  It  is  empowered  to  act  as  trustee  in  behalf  of  the  city  or  private 
parties  for  any  funds  to  be  administered  for  charity;  (3)  It  investigates  charities 
and  endorses  such  as  it  finds  worthy;  (4)  It  is  commissioned  to  investigate  and 
to  devise  means  for  the  improvement  of  conditions  which  produce  the  need  of 
relief. 

With  these  essential  matters  provided  for  it  has,  of  course,  coupled  other 
minor  duties  such  as  the  collection  and  preservation  of  statistics,  the  representing 
of  the  city  in  connection  with  charity  work,  the  education  of  citizens  in  regard 
to  charitable  methods  and  the  like. 

As  the  work  of  most  immediate  and  pressing  importance  the  Commission 
took  up  the  matter  of  the  investigation  and  endorsement  of  such  charities  as 

29 


appeal  to  the  people  of  Berkeley  for  support.  It  was  the  first  plan  of  the  Com- 
mission to  act  only  with  such  authority  as  any  charities  endorsement  committee 
formed  by  private  parties  is  able  to  act,  but  within  a  few  months  after  the  begin- 
ning of  its  work,  through  the  special  initiative  of  the  police  department  a  police 
ordinance  was  passed  which  gave  to  the  Commission  police  power  in  relation 
to  the  solicitation  of  help.  The  ordinance  declares  it  to  be  "unlawful  for  any 
person,  firm,  corporation,  or  association  to  solicit  alms,  food,  clothing,  money  or 
contributions  within  the  City  of  Berkeley  for  any  charitable  institution  or  organ- 
ization without  first  securing  a  permit  so  to  do  from  the  Commission  of  Public 
Charities  of  said  city."  The  Commission  was  doubtful  at  first  of  the  expediency 
of  this  ordinance,  feeling  that  it  might  be  well  to  encourage  public  sentiment  in 
the  matter  first  and  educate  it  until  there  should  be  a  more  general  demand,  but 
it  must  be  admitted  that  the  ordinance  has  worked  successfully  in  every  way. 
It  has  enabled  the  police  to  stop  all  kinds  of  irresponsible  begging  and  house  to 
house  soliciting.  In  many  cases  the  persons  doing  such  soliciting  represent  no 
organized  work  but  merely  some  personal  interest.  In  many  cases  such  solicita- 
tion is  purely  fraudulent.  Wherever  any  person  is  found  soliciting  without  the 
endorsement  of  the  Commission  he  is  sent  to  the  agent  of  the  Commission  and 
the  Commission  acts  upon  the  matter  as  speedily  as  possible.  Frequently  such 
persons  do  not  make  any  application.  Frequently,  and  particularly  at  first,  it 
was  found  that  no  endorsement  could  be  granted  and  the  public  was  saved  con- 
tributions to  an  utterly  unworthy  cause.  On  the  other  hand  the  established 
charities,  the  Charity  Organization  Society  and  others  have  welcomed  the  activity 
of  the  Commission.  It  must,  however,  be  remembered  as  I  have  already  stated, 
that  these  societies  were  all  young  at  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the  Com- 
mission and  in  general  the  groups  of  people  interested  in  their  prosperity  have 
been  those  who  have  been  associated  closely  with  the  Commisission's  work  and 
with  one  another.  The  possession  of  this  authority  by  the  Commission  has  made 
it  able,  in  spite  of  representing  only  a  small  community,  to  have  a  definite  and 
real  influence  in  the  improvement  of  the  conditions  of  a  number  of  societies  which 
have  applied  to  it  for  endorsement  and  which  have  not  felt  that  they  could  risk, 
although  located  elsewhere,  the  admission  that  they  had  failed  to  secure  the 
endorsement  of  the  Berkeley  Commission.  Even  where  the  actual  amount  of 
money  which  they  might  receive  in  Berkeley  was  small  they  have  felt  the  im- 
portance of  the  endorsement.  On  the  whole  the  Commission  has  found  (and 
we  believe  that  the  community  shares  the  view)  that  the  police  power  used 
conservatively  and  with  the  endeavor  to  improve  conditions  has  been  both  a 
protection  to  the  public  and  a  help  to  the  societies  involved. 

In  this  work  of  endorsement  the  Commission  anticipated  by  some  time 
the  work  of  the  Los  Angeles  Commission  but  it  is  only  within  the  last  few  months 
that  it  has  begun  to  follow  the  Los  Angeles  Commission  in  the  matter  of  the 
regulation  of  entertainments.  Here  too,  although  there  has  been  some  opposition 
due  to  misunderstanding,  by  using  its  authority  conservatively  and  with  the 
aim  clearly  stated  of  assisting  both  the  public  and  the  givers  of  entertainments 
the  Commission  has  already  been  able  to  protect  the  public  in  a  number  of  in- 
stances and  it  is  now  coming  to  be  pretty  well  understood  that  a  permit  is  not 
only  necessary  but  desirable. 

Although  I  am  not  sure  whether  the  title  of  this  address  contemplates  it 
or  not,  mention  should  be  made  I  think,  of  the  second  principal  activity  of  the 
Commission  in  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  a  Labor  Bureau.  This 

30 


hag  now  been  running  for  about  eighteen  months.  It  is  established  by  the  muni- 
cipality and  includes  three  branches,  a  labor  exchange  or  employment  agency, 
a  lodging  house  for  transient  men,  and  a  wood  yard  where  such  transients  can 
be  employed  to  earn  their  lodging  and  meals  during  the  time  they  are  looking 
for  work.  The  Labor  Bureau  has  been  a  distinctly  successful  institution  although 
during  the  past  two  or  three  months  with  the  excessive  amount  of  unemployment 
and  some  hampering  of  its  work  by  the  conditions  imposed  by  the  city  upon  its 
doing  business,  it  has  not  been  able  always  to  provide  as  much  work  as  was  needed 
for  transients.  It  has  not  had  so  large  a  success  as  was  hoped  in  enlisting  the 
interest  of  employers  but  has  nevertheless  secured  both  temporary  and  permanent 
work  for  large  numbers  of  men. 

Berkeley  is  now  in  its  second  year  of  working  out  a  new  plan  in  relation 
to  its  own  principal  charities.  For  two  or  three  years  the  Charity  Organization 
Society,  and  two  other  institutions,  the  Day  Nursery  and  the  Dispensary  ap- 
pealed to  the  citizens  for  support  on  a  day  known  as  "Charity  Day".  An  army 
of  workers  was  organized  and  so  far  as  possible  every  house  was  visited  and 
contributions  received.  Charity  Day  was  a  success  but  many  persons  felt  that 
the  burden  would  be  still  better  distributed  if  the  city  itself  undertook  the  sup- 
port of  these  charities.  After  some  negotiation  the  Council  agreed  to  the  plan 
in  principle.  It  was  difficult  to  work  out  the  details  under  the  terms  of  the 
charter,  but  finally  a  method  was  hit  upon  which  seems  to  have  solved  the 
problem.  The  societies  are  treated  precisely  as  any  contracting  firms  or  corpor- 
ations in  relation  to  public  works  would  be  treated.  The  city  desires  certain 
relief  work  done  and  enters  into  a  contract  with  the  society  to  do  that  work. 
These  contracts  cover  the  overhead  expenses  of  these  three  chief  societies.  For 
special  relief  work  they  have  still  to  appeal  to  the  charitably  disposed  people 
but  all  are  sure  of  being  able  to  keep  up  their  work,  pay  their  salaries,  rent  and 
so  forth.  These  societies  were,  of  course,  already  endorsed  by  the  Commission 
but  since  they  have  become  in  this  way  semi-municipal  they  have  come  under  the 
direct  oversight  of  the  Commission.  Members  of  the  Commission  take  turns  in 
assuming  special  responsibility  for  the  work  and  the  reports  of  each  society. 
Reports  are  turned  in  monthly  and  must  be  inspected  by  the  commissioner  in 
charge  (who  is  supposed  to  have  visited  the  society's  work  during  the  month) 
before  they  are  handed  in  to  the  city  and  the  money  paid.  The  plan  has  worked 
most  successfully  and  seems  to  have  brought  all  the  relief  work  of  these  various 
kinds  into  a  unified  system  which  counts  for  the  total  good. 

Before  closing  this  account  of  the  actual  work  of  the  Commission  it  may 
be  well  to  mention  one  other  matter.  The  Commission  has  established  a  confiden- 
tial exchange.  It  is  quite  apparent  that  such  an  exchange  is  established  with 
greater  authority  and  larger  chance  of  success  when  it  comes  from  a  municipal 
body. 

In  conclusion  I  would  like  to  comment  for  a  moment  upon  this  work 
I  have  already  expressed  the  conviction  of  the  Commission  and  I  believe  of  all 
the  charity  workers  in  Berkeley  that  the  municipal  endorsement  of  charities  is 
an  eminently  desirable  thing.  That  this  endorsement  should  be  supported  by 
the  police  power  is  only  to  bring  it  into  line  with  the  whole  trend  of  modern  social 
legislation.  We  have  found  that  we  must  protect  the  public  in  relation  to  public 
service  corporations.  Private  charities  come  in  the  same  category  essentially 
for  they  are  doing  public  work  and  are  supported  by  the  public.  They  should 

31 


be  not  only  endorsed  where  they  are  worthy  but  closely  supervised  and  the  public 
protected  absolutely  from  those  which  are  not  worthy.  Of  course  in  the  smaller 
matter  of  entertainments  for  the  benefit  of  charities  it  is  not  so  easy  to  draw  a 
line  but  the  principle  can,  I  think,  hardly  be  disputed  that  the  public  needs  pro- 
tection here  as  in  the  other  matter.  There  will  be  immensely  greater  difficulties 
(as  will  be  found  in  Los  Angeles  and  other  places)  where  the  community  is  larger 
and  charities  have  been  long  established  as  completely  independent  bodies;  but 
these  obstacles  are  no  greater  than  have  been  successfully  met  in  relation  to 
public  service  corporations. 

The  question  of  the  appropriation  of  public  moneys  for  private  charities 
is  quite  a  different  one.  There  is  obviously  a  logical  objection  to  mixing  public 
and  private  functions  in  that  way.  The  distribution  of  responsibility  is  likely 
to  be  haphazard.  If  it  is  difficult  to  reach  any  agreement  as  to  what  is  the  proper 
work  of  state  or  city,  it  is  still  more  difficult  to  find  any  principle  upon  which 
to  combine  the  two  by  such  appropriations.  We  are  not,  however,  likely  to  be 
more  logical  in  our  specifically  charitable  affairs  than  in  our  political.  We  shall 
be  likely  to  be  satisfied  if  an  arrangement  works  well.  I  do  not  want  to  enter 
upon  the  larger  theoretical  question  in  relation  to  which  my  own  judgment  is 
that  the  functions  of  city  and  state  will  increase  and  ought  to  increase;  but 
only  to  point  out  that  it  is  possible  to  organize  a  system  of  such  public  appropri- 
ations in  which  some  at  least  of  the  striking  disadvantages  are  done  away.  Two 
such  are  conspicuous.  There  is  the  difficulty  upon  the  part  of  the  state  or  city 
of  making  discriminating  appropriations  and  there  is  the  difficulty  that  (especially 
where  such  appropriations  are  on  a  large  scale)  political  influence,  grafting  and 
the  like  will  play  a  large  part.  Now  if  the  initiative  comes  from  the  city  or  if  at 
any  rate  appropriations  are  not  granted  to  just  any  society  which  starts  out 
to  do  a  certain  work,  but  are  given  only  where  the  work  is  needed,  and  if  there 
are  no  competing  societies  but  a  definite  unification  is  compelled  by  the  municipal 
directing  body,  the  chance  of  such  disadvantages  becoming  conspicuous  is  largely 
done  away  with.  That  is  what  we  have  tried  to  do  in  Berkeley.  There  must, 
however,  be  careful  supervision  and  real  direction.  If  such  are  given  it  is  certainly 
a  gain  to  have — b>  the  continuance  of  the  private  charities — a  number  of  people 
interested  as  volunteers  in  such  work  and  to  be  able  to  call  upon  those  who  can 
give  largely  for  large  help.  We  have  in  Berkeley  measurably  succeeded  in  achiev- 
ing both  those  desirable  ends,  the  private  interest  and  the  public  support. 

The  Los  Angeles  Plan 

MILBANK  JOHNSON,  B.  S.,  M.  D. 

With  your  permission,  I  will  this  evening  discuss  the  Los  Angeles  Plan 
from  a  comparative  standpoint,  with  the  object  of  showing  wherein  our  plan 
is  better  or  worse  than  the  ordinary  one. 

As  some  of  you  know,  the  Charity  Commission  of  the  City  of  Los  Angeles 
operating  under  an  ordinance  providing  for  five  Commissioners,  appointed  by 
the  Mayor,  and  confirmed  by  the  City  Council,  have,  generally  speaking,  practi- 
cally supervisorial  powers  over  the  various  charitable  and  philanthropic  organ- 
izations of  our  city.  We  do  not  wish  to  take  full  credit  as  pioneers  in  this  work, 
and  would  like  to  give  the  City  of  Berkeley  credit  for  being  the  first  to  inaugurate 
such  a  plan;  but  I  believe  I  can  say,  without  danger  of  hurting  anyone's  feelings, 
that  our  problems  are  incomparably  greater  than  those  of  Berkeley,  owing  to 

32 


the  greater  population  of  Los  Angeles.  However,  we  have  learned  much  from 
Berkeley;  but  we  have  had  to  blaze  a  new  trail  for  ourselves  to  meet  many  problems 
not  presented  by  the  smaller  city. 

We  have  two  ordinances:  the  first,  known  as  the  Ordinance  of  Creation; 
'the  second,  usually  referred  to  as  the  Penal  Ordinance. 

The  Ordinance  of  Creation,  which  outlines  the  method  of  formation  and 
the  duties  of  the  Commission,  empowering  it  to: 

(1)  Investigate   all   charities   dependent  upon   public  appeal,   or  general 
solicitation  of  funds,  for  its  support;  and  to  endorse  such  of  them  as  meet  the 
actual  needs  of  the  community,  and  attain  a  reasonable  standard  of  efficiency, 
and  are  so  conducted  as  to  insure  the  public  of  a  wise  use  of  funds; 

(2)  To  encourage  the  formation  of  new  private  charities  to  meet  the  needs 
not  already  provided  for; 

(3)  To  collect  and  preserve  statistics  relating  to  charities,  conditions  of 
life,  unemployment  and  delinquency;  and  maintain  a  constant    survey    of    the 
field  of  charity; 

(4)  To  disburse  all  funds  apportioned  by  the  city  for  charitable  purposes; 

(5)  To  receive  donations,   gifts,   or  bequests,   to  be  used  for  charitable 
purposes,  and  administer  the  same; 

(6)  To  establish  and  maintain  free  employment  bureaus,  et  cetera. 

The  second,  or  Penal  Ordinance,  provides  for  the  regulation  of  the  soliciting 
of  alms  and  contributions  for  charitable  purposes,  and  prohibits  begging.  In 
this  ordinance  it  has  been  made:  unlawful  for  any  person  to  beg  on  the  streets 
of  Los  Angeles;  second,  for  any  firm,  person,  or  corporation,  to  solicit  alms,  food, 
clothing,  money,  or  contributions,  without  obtaining  a  permit  so  to  do  from  the 
Municipal  Charities  Commission — excepting,  however,  from  the  operation  of 
this  law,  the  established  churches  collecting  for  purely  religious  purposes;  third, 
forbidding  any  person,  firm,  corporation,  or  association,  to  give,  or  promote, 
any  entertainment,  fair,  or  bazaar,  or  benefit  in  the  name  of  charity,  without  a 
permit.  It  prevents  anyone  from  using  funds  for  any  ethical,  evangelical,  reli- 
gious, missionary  or  charitable  purposes  without  a  permit — excepting  the  regularly 
established  churches,  collecting  for  purely  religious  purposes.  It  also  makes  it 
unlawful  for  any  person,  corporation  or  association,  to  sell,  or  offer  for  sale,  any 
clothing,  household  goods,  wares,  or  merchandise,  which  have  been  solicited  for 
charity  or  philanthropy,  without  first  obtaining  a  permit  so  to  do;  and  it  provides 
that  any  of  these  offences  shall  be  considered  a  misdemeanor,  and  punishable 
by  a  fine  not  exceeding  $100,  or  imprisonment  in  the  city  jail  for  thirty  days, 
or  by  both  such  fine  and  imprisonment. 

The  first  act  of  the  Commission  which  was  organized  on  June  6,  1913, 
was  to  adopt  the  rule  of  unanimity,  believing  that  there  was  plenty  to  do  upon 
which  all  of  us  could  agree,  without  trying  to  put  forward  any  individual's  pet 
schemes  or  hobbies.  Therefore,  during  the  eighteen  months  of  our  existence, 
we  have  never  had  a  divided  vote  at  any  meeting;  and  have  confined  ourselves 
to  fundamental  principles,  about  the  results  of  which  there  could  be  no  question. 

Without  going  fully  into  the  details  of  the  working  out  of  the  provisions 
of  these  ordinances,  let  me  say  that  we  have  moved  along  gradually,  taking  up 
one  point  after  another  as  rapidly  as  the  city  will  provide  the  money  necessary 
to  do  this  work;  and  trying  at  all  times  to  be  just  and  fair  to  everyone.  Right 
here,  it  might  not  be  amiss  to  say  that,  notwithstanding  the  tremendous  police 
power  placed  in  this  Commission,  and  the  great  amount  of  graft,  as  well  as  actual 

33 


crime,  discovered  in  the  investigation  and  regulation  of  the  various  charity 
organizations,  we  have  not  had  arrested  more  than  half  a  dozen  people;  nor 
have  we  collected  one  dollar  in  fines  for  the  City  of  Los  Angeles — showing  con- 
clusively that  great  power  carries  with  it  an  argument  necessary  at  all  times  to 
obtain  respect  from  the  evil-minded,  who  fully  realize  the  inevitable  risks  of 
disobedience. 

The  Salvation  Army,  as  all  well-informed  social  workers  know,  has  opposed, 
all  over  the  United  States,  any  effort  to  regulate  it,  beguiling  the  general  public 
by  their  protestations  of  sanctity,  and  bluffing  the  various  authorities  through 
the  false  public  opinion,  which  they  have  thus  far  been  able  to  create,  thus  saving 
themselves  and  their  pernicious  system  from  destruction  But,  for  some  reason 
or  .other,  the  framers  of  the  ordinances  for  the  City  of  Los  Angeles  seem  to  have 
been  able  to  stop  them  very  effectively  from  the  pernicious  practices  complained 
of  by  all  social  agencies.  On  the  12th  of  April,  in  Los  Angeles,  there  will  be  heard 
before  the  State  Supreme  Court  our  case  against  the  Salvation  Army,  at  which 
time  the  full  constitutionality  of  our  ordinances  will  be  adjudicated  and  will 
stop  forever  all  discussion  of  unconstitutionality  and  evasion.  Major  Andrew 
J.  Copp,  Jr.,  a  distinguished  lawyer  of  Los  Angeles,  and  Secretary  of  the  Charities 
Commission,  seems  to  feel  most  sanguine  of  success  for  the  ordinances;  and  we 
shall  certainly  be  much  relieved  when  the  question  is  settled,  for  I  can  assure 
you  that  the  endless  and  seemingly  unnecessary  delays  of  our  law  courts  are 
quite  wearing  on  one's  disposition.  As  for  myself,  I  want  to  know  quickly  whether 
I  am  right  or  wrong,  so  that  I  may  turn  about  and  start  over,  if  necessary.  I 
fully  believe  that  if  the  City  of  Los  Angeles  finds  any  defect  in  its  present  ordi- 
nances, its  City  Council  will  pass  a  new  one  curing  the  trouble. 

Our  commission  has  published  a  monograph  entitled:  "The  Official  Case 
of  the  City  of  Los  Angeles,  Against  the  Salvation  Army."  This  was  necessary 
because  of  the  general  interest  all  over  the  world  excited  by  the  litigation.  This 
monograph  is  now  in  its  second  edition  of  5,000  copies,  which  we  mail  upon  re- 
quest to  anyone.  It  is  a  long  and  interesting  subject,  and  I  will  not  bore  you 
here  with  its  details.  The  whole  case  is  dependent  upon  the  fact  that  we  do  not 
believe  the  Salvation  Army  complies  with  our  ordinances,  and  hence  we  have 
refused  them  our  endprsement.  Lacking  said  endorsement,  we  will  not  issue 
permits  for  the  maintenance  of  their  stores  and  general  solicitation  of  funds; 
and  when  you  realize  that  the  Salvation  Army  maintains  no  department  which 
is  not  profitable  from  a  dollar  and  cents  standpoint,  then  you  can  readily  see 
that  in  such  a  large  city  as  Los  Angeles  it  means  the  loss  of  many  thousands  of 
dollars  to  them  not  to  be  able  to  conduct  their  business  there. 

The  police  powers  of  the  Commission  are  purely  secondary  in  benefit  to 
the  power  granted  indirectly  to  the  Commission  for  reconstruction  of  the  various 
societies  and  institutions;  and  we  are  therefore  enabled  to  guide,  through  wise 
suggestion,  practically  all  institutions  to  better  work;  this,  you  can  readily  see, 
would  be  brought  about  through  our  supervisorial  power  over  all,  which  makes 
our  viewpoint  broad  and  direct.,  giving  us  exact  data  upon  which  to  base  con- 
clusions; and,  having  the  whole  field  before  us,  we  are  better  able  to  judge  of 
the  best  plan  to  be  pursued  by  any  individual  organization. 

That  new  communities,  contemplating  the  organization  of  a  similar 
Commission,  may  avoid  friction  with  other  authorities,  as  for  example,  the 
State  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections,  I  would  suggest  that  they  establish 
with  them  the  closest  possible  relation  of  helpfulness  and  co-operation.  For, 

34 


just  as  it  is  important  for  local  organizations  to  co-operate  closely  one  with  the 
other  for  the  greatest  constructive  work  throughout  the  community,  so  it  is 
important  for  all  local  Commissions  to  co-operate  closely  with  the  State  Com- 
mission that  the  best  interests  of  the  State  may  be  attained.  I  believe  that 
in  the  near  future  every  community  which  has  a  problem  of  poverty  or  unem- 
ployment (and  that  includes  all)  will  have  some  form  of  local,  legally  constituted 
Board  of  Control,  whether  known  as  the  Charity  Commission  or  a  Commission 
of  Public  Welfare.  At  that  time  the  State  Commission  should  occupy  its  time 
and  energy  in  the  establishment,  through  these  local  boards,  of  high  standards 
of  efficiency,  forming  standards  of  work,  to  the  end  that  all  may  act  harmoniously 
for  the  common  cause;  namely,  the  reconstruction  of  families.  The  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  pronounces  that  all  men  are  created  free  and  equal;  but  I 
do  not  believe  that  many  social  workers  will  agree  with  this  point  of  view.  When 
we  encounter,  day  by  day,  the  human  derelicts  thrown  on  the  wide  stream  of 
despondency,  needing,  many  times,  only  the  word  of  cheer  and  advice,  which 
the  trained  social  worker  alone  can  give,  we  are  very  apt  to  conclude  that  at 
least  some  part  of  humanity  either  started  out  wrong,  or  became  seriously  handi- 
capped shortly  after  the  start.  I  think  that  every  county  in  California,  which 
now  has  a  county  civil  engineer,  should  provide  as  a  part  of  its  legal  government 
a  social  engineer;  because  the  wants  of  the  individual  members  of  society  are 
just  as  important  as  the  needs  of  our  roads  or  bridges,  and  are  very  much  more 
difficult  of  solution;  and  require  as  high  a  type  of  engineer  for  their  economic 
and  moral  welfare.  I  do  not  think  it  is  the  proper  attitude  to  attack  these  prob- 
lems with  the  idea  that  the  poor  are  always  with  us;  because,  thus  far,  man  has 
found  a  cure  wherever  he  has  diligently  searched;  and  I  believe  that  we  shall 
someday  find  a  cure  for  our  social  economic  ailment,  providing  we  organize  for 
this  purpose,  a  body  of  individuals,  trained,  and  interested  in  its  solution  from 
a  preventive  rather  than  a  palliative  standpoint.  The  aim  of  all  communities 
of  social  workers  should  be  the  establishment  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States 
a  school  of  social  economics,  so  that  this  army  may  have  plenty  of  recruits. 

The  Los  Angeles  Council  of  Social  Agencies  is  now  planning  a  school  of 
philanthropy.  While  on  this  subject  I  cannot  help  mentioning  a  tendency  found 
in  so  many  social  workers — that  of  becoming  socialists  in  the  narrow  sense 
of  the  term.  While  I  believe  that  all  people  are  socialistic  in  their  aspirations 
for  humanity,  I  further  believe  that  wise  training  would  teach  many  people  to 
seek  for  cures  rather  than  condemnation  of  existing  conditions.  To  my  mind, 
the  greatest  socialistic  publication  in  the  United  States,  and  the  one  calculated 
to  create  the  most  discontent  among  social  workers,  is  the  "Survey,"  published 
in  New  York.  In  the  last  two  years,  I  have  not  read  one  commendatory  article 
in  that  journal,  which  poses  as  a  leader  in  this  field  of  thought.  A  little  praise, 
once  in  a  while,  is  necessary  to  stimulate  workers  in  any  field,  no  less  in  this; 
and  I  hope  that  we  may  begin  a  school  of  public  welfare  in  Los  Angeles,  which 
will  teach  the  younger  workers  something  about  construction  and  prevention, 
as  well  as  destruction. 

Many  students,  to  whom  I  have  suggested  that  they  prepare  themselves 
in  this  subject  for  life  work,  have  complained  of  the  small  pay,  which  these  work- 
ers usually  receive;  and  that  reminds  me  that  the  pay  cannot  always  be  figured 
in  dollars  and  cents.  I  think  it  is  a  great  privilege  to  be  able  to  serve  our  fellow- 
men;  and  while  it  is  natural,  in  fact  a  primal  necessity,  to  eat,  sleep  and  clothe 

35 


ourselves  and  families,  still  I  cannot  get  out  of  my  head  the  inspired  words  of 
James  Russell  Lowell  in  the  "Vision  of  Sir  Launfal."  Can  you  not  see  Sir  Launfal 
starting  out  a  strong,  robust  man,  mounted  upon  a  wonderful  charger,  his  armor 
bright  and  glittering,  returning  to  his  home  after  years  of  seeking  and  traveling 
from  one  end  of  the  world  to  the  other,  discouraged  and  broken;  and,  as  he  comes 
to  that  little  wood,  stopping  with  his  old  worn-out  horse  and  accoutrements, 
he  hears  someone  moaning.  Looking  around,  he  beholds  a  leper,  clothed  in  rags, 
begrimed  with  filth,  and  covered  with  sores  upon  his  body,  begging  for  a  drink 
of  water.  Launfal,  climbing  wearily  from  his  steed  and  taking  from  his  saddle 
an  old  wooden  dipper,  stoops  down  and  fills  it  with  water  from  the  stream,  and 
raising  the  head  of  the  leper  in  his  arms,  giving  him  a  drink.  But  lo!  a  .miracle 
is  performed!  The  leper  is  transformed  into  a  radience  of  glory.  Man  and  horse 
are  young  again.  His  armor  is  burnished  gold,  and  his  old  bowl  becomes  a  golden 
chalice  set  with  jewels,  blazing  with  the  light  of  eternal  happiness.  And  he 
knows!  The  Grail  is  found!  The  Master  speaks  these  words: 

"Not  what  we  give,  but  what  we  share, 
For  the  gift  without  the  giver  is  bare; 
Who  gives  himself  with  his  alms  feeds  three, 
Himself,  his  hung'ring  neighbor,  and  Me." 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  this  is  our  reward! 


36 


RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL  WORK 
Religion  and  Social  Work 

RABBI  MARTIN  A.  MEYER 

At  a  Conference  such  as  this  we  enjoy  one  of  those  happy  opportunities 
of  stressing  those  points  in  which  all  religions  and  Churches  may  join  hands  to 
accomplish  a  common  end.  Here  we  are  not  interested  in  theological  or  philo- 
sophic differences.  Such  is  not  the  purpose  of  our  gathering.  Tonight  we  all 
feel  that  beneath  and  behind  these  differentia  are  certain  ideals  and  lines  of  effort 
in  which  all  may  join  to  realize  a  higher  standard  of  citizenship.  All  religions 
preach  charity  in  one  way  or  another.  In  the  great  Churches  and  in  the  Synagogs 
of  the  western  world  charity  has  been  given  the  central  place  among  the  practical 
virtues.  No  doubt  theology  buttressed  the  humanitarian  appeal;  and  in  many 
cases  charity  was  practised  not  only  to  help  suffering  humanity  but  also  to  assure 
to  the  giver  weal  for  his  own  soul.  We  have  no  quarrel  with  those  who  still  feel 
this  to  be  the  motive  of  their  philanthropy.  Of  recent  years  all  have  begun 
to  realize  that  charity  is  insufficient.  It  is  all  too  frequently  snobbish,  the  con- 
decension  of  Dives  to  Lazarus  at  his  door;  the  stray  crusts  flung  to  the  hungry 
and  the  needy.  This  has  made  the  needy  distrustful  of  the  opulent.  It  has 
created  dissatisfaction  rather  than  contentment.  Further,  it  was  recognized 
that  ordinary  charity  was  pallative,  and  therefore  not  remedial;  that  it  tried 
to  stop  the  stream  of  poverty  and  need  at  its  mouth  rather  than  at  its  source. 
Bigger  constructive  concepts  have  come  in  to  vitalize  and  deepen  the  results  of 
the  humanitarian  motive  among  men.  Justice  has  become  the  keynote  of  philan- 
thropy and  methods  have  been  improved  to  the  betterment  of  the  work  and  the 
greater  satisfaction  of  both  parties,  the  recipient  and  the  donor.  We  speak 
today  no  longer  either  of  charity  or  of  philanthropy,  but  of  Social  Service.  We 
acknowledge  thereby  our  sense  of  social  responsibility  for  certain  conditions 
which  make  for  poverty;  we  thereby  recognize  our  social  responsibility  for  these 
conditions  and  our  duty  towards  improving  these  conditions.  This  is  fundamental 
to  the  great  preventive  and  remedial  programs  of  today.  We  are  no  more  con- 
tent to  hand  out  a  loaf  to  a  hungry  man.  We  want  to  know  why  he  is  in  need 
and  how  we  can  prevent  others  from  falling  into  similar  need.  We  are  no  more 
content  to  care  for  orphans  or  to  maintain  hospitals.  We  want  to  know  what 
conditions  make  for  orphanage  and  disease  and  to  what  extent  it  is  possible  to 
prevent  these  abnormal  conditions.  However  we  may  criticize  this  social  move- 
ment we  must  recognize  in  its  activity  a  healthy  reaction  against  the  "laissez 
faire"  policy  of  the  past  with  its  cruel  individualism  expressed  in  the  brutal 
"Each  for  himself  and  the  devil  take  the  hindmost."  While  sometimes  we  must 
take  stock  and  realize  that  there  is  no  army  without  its  units  as  well  as  the  army 
as  a  mass,  nevertheless,  the  movement  of  today  is  along  a  healthy  line  of  effort 
and  expression.  And  religion  must  continue  to  remain  the  inspiration  and  the 
mainspring  of  social  effort.  It  is  vain  to  imagine  that  mere  social  service  can 
substitute  for  religion.  It  is  but  one  phase,  to  be  sure  the  practical  application, 
but  after  all  but  one  phase  at  most  of  a  most  complex  and  many  sided  phenomenon 
which  we  call  religion.  It  does  not  mean  that  this  is  all  of  religion  because 

37 


religion  demands  that  her  faithful  ones  shall  interpret  their  profession  in  and 
through  such  service;  but  it  is  a  fine  opportunity  for  religionists  to  show  the 
fervor  and  the  reality  of  their  professions  and  for  religionists  of  varying  types 
of  thought  to  meet  on  a  common  ground.  After  all  the  men  in  the  street,  the 
great  run  of  humans,  want  to  connect  up  their  religion  with  life.  They  are  not  satis- 
fied to  listen  to  sermons  and  to  study  the  bibles  of  the  we  rid;  but  in  the  last 
analysis  they  want  and  they  need  their  religion  to  be  in  vital  touch  and  contact 
with  life  and  its  problems  in  the  world  today.  Religion  thereby  remains  true 
to  its  historic  mission  to  be  the  savior  of  men,  not  only  spiritually  but  at  every 
point  of  life;  not  only  in  a  theological  sense  but  in  a  practical  every  day  sense. 
It  remains  true  to  its  old  time  preaching  of  charity;  but  wise  with  the  wisdom 
of  the  ages,  it  seizes  upon  the  new  and  larger  interpretations  of  such  a  concept 
and  urges  men  and  women  up  to  their  opportunities  for  social  service. 

We  are  facing  a  crisis  in  the  religious  life  far  more  dangerous  than  the 
supposed  attacks  of  any  philosophy.  We  have  been  able  in  the  last  sixty  years 
to  restate  religious  values  in  the  terms  of  the  evolutionary  philosophy;  what 
once  we  feared  would  destroy  the  citadel  of  faith  has  become  the  handmaiden 
of  faith.  Time  and  again  religion  has  done  this  self  same  thing.  But  the  test 
which  is  now  being  applied  is  the  acid  test,  the  final  one.  Will  religionists  have 
the  courage  of  their  convictions  and  apply  to  daily  life  the  doctrines  of  their 
creeds  and  rituals?  Can  we  affirm  our  belief  in  the  Brotherhood  of  Man  on  our 
Sabbaths,  and  practice  the  brotherhood  of  wealth  on  the  week  days?  Dare  we 
preach  the  Golden  Rule  and  practise  the  rule  of  gold?  We  may  be  anxious  for 
a  heavenly  kingdom,  but  to  assure  that  we  must  be  ready  to  help  the  realization 
of  the  earthly  republic  of  man.  In  this  wise  alone,  can  we  continue  to  teach 
religion  and  to  win  men  to  its  profession  and  its  practice. 

Let  us  particularize  so  that  none  may  fail  to  understand.  We  are  already 
facing  in  America  one  of  the  most  significant  problems  that  any  nation  has  been 
called  upon  to  meet.  The  immigrant  is  with  us  in  large  numbers,  and  many 
view  his  presence  with  us  with  the  greatest  alarm.  There  is  no  occasion  for  us 
to  ennumerate  the  numerous  charges  which  are  laid  at  the  door  of  the  immigrant. 
Now  let  us  see  in  just  what  manner  the  Church  and  religion  can  serve  this  great 
problem,  for  problem  it  is.  Frankly  we  are  not  of  those  who  see  red  or  black 
wherever  and  whenever  the  immigrant  is  mentioned.  Nor  do  we  see  pure  white 
either.  We  try  to  approach  the  question  from  the  point  of  view  of  religion  with 
its  sublime  doctrine  of  the  brotherhood  of  man;  and  from  the  traditional  policy 
of  America,  the  first  people  in  God's  providence  to  put  into  practical  expression 
this  ages  old  ideal  of  the  religious  life.  First  and  foremost  we  must  realize  that 
we  are  dealing  with  a  human  problem.  We  dare  not  judge  it  solely  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  dollar  mark.  Humanity  must  rise  superior  to  all  considera- 
tions of  a  purely  mercenary  or  economic  character.  These  immigrants  are 
human  beings,  made  in  the  image  of  God,  like  ourselves,  and  our  brothers  by 
the  same  sign  and  standard.  That  means  too  that  they  have  in  themselves  the 
same  possibilities  of  advancement  and  development  as  we  whose  fathers,  for- 
tunately for  ourselves,  came  before  them  to  this  land.  Therefore  must  the  reli- 
giously minded  people  of  America  exercise  in  the  discussion  and  the  solution 
of  this  problem  the  finest  spirit  of  humanity  and  brotherhood  latent  in  them. 
The  religionists  of  America  can  and  must  solve  whatever  problems  there  may 
be  in  the  presence  of  these  foreign  groups  among  us.  By  the  way,  we  ought  to 

38 


understand  that  the  immigrant  for  the  most  part  only  intensifies  already  existing 
problems.  With  the  exception  of  the  need  of  being  assimilated  to  American 
customs  and  speech,  he  creates  no  new  problems.  But  intensification  sometimes 
is  worse  than  a  new  problem.  We  ought  to  realize  that  the  duty  of  the  church 
to  him  is  not  so  much  to  proselytize  him  as  to  conserve  the  values  which  he 
brings  over  from  his  native  land,  be  they  of  spirituality,  musical  ability,  artistic 
skill — whatever  it  may  be  for  good.  For  we  must  readily  recognize  his  ability 
along  other  lines  than  that  of  the  pick  and  shovel  gang.  We  ought  to  stand 
with  him  in  the  transition  and  help  him  over  its  difficulties.  Let's  not  add  to 
his  confusion  by  displacing  his  religious  values.  The  economic  problem,  the 
reconstruction  on  a  semi-American  basis,  the  new  language,  the  new  land,  the 
new  folkways — all  are  difficult  enough  for  him.  And  when  his  child  goes  to 
public  school  and  learns  as  he  never  learned,  and  a  breach  grows  up  between 
fathers  and  sons,  surely  the  Church  can  play  the  mediator  and  bring  peace  to 
both  distracted  parties.  The  Church  can  help  these  new  comers  so  that  they 
Americanize  properly.  We  have  had  too  much  left-handed  assimilation,  as  it 
is  called,  in  which  the  adoption  of  the  vices  of  the  American  masses  is  supposed 
to  represent  the  standards  of  American  life.  We  can  help  him  to  an  appreciation 
and  a  knowledge  of  the  good  things  in  American  life.  We  herd  him  in  our  ghetti, 
we  locate  him  in  the  worst  part  of  town,  he  comes  in  contact  with  the  cheap 
"ward  politician,  he  is  exploited  by  ruthless  industrialists,  he  is  mulcted  by  a  score 
of  sinister  influences,  his  children  are  fed  into  the  maw  of  the  factory,  and  his 
daughters  are  led  away  into  the  hell  of  the  redlight.  His  lot  is  far  from  easy  or 
enviable.  Let  the  Church  come  in  and  show  him  the  other  side;  let  the  Church 
help  him  in  his  hour  of  need  and  temptation.  Serve  him  in  the  highest  spirit 
of  religion  and  of  American  citizenship.  It  means  health  for  the  Church  and  for 
the  immigrant  too.  This  is  but  typical  of  a  thousand  different  forces  at  work 
in  our  civic  life  in  which  the  point  of  view  of  the  religionist  is  needed;  in  which 
it:can  exchange  ashes  for  beauty,  in  which  it  can  justify  itself  in  the  hearts  of 
its  followers  and  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  outside.  Hand  in  hand  the  Church, 
together  with  social  agencies  can  salvage  mankind  for  humanity's  best  unfolding 
can  assure  to  mankind  safety  and  salvation,  peace  here  and  hereafter,  can 
establish  the  Republic  of  Humanity  here  below  among  the  sons  of  man. 


Religion  and  Social  Service 

BISHOP  LOUIS  C.  SANFORD 

There  has  been  a  tremendous  change  within  the  last  fifty  years  to  our 
habits  of  thought.  The  past  generation  thought  in  terms  of  the  individual;  the 
present  thinks  in  terms  of  society.  The  physician  of  the  early  years  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  aimed  to  cure  sick  men,  to  relieve  individual  cases  of  disease. 
Today,  the  prime  purpose  of  the  science  of  medicine  is  to  eradicate  disease  that 
society  may  not  be  exposed  to  its  ravages.  The  philanthropist  of  a  former  day 
endeavored  to  relieve  destitution  wherever  he  found  it.  Now  he  is  seeking  the 
causes  of  poverty  that  he  may  remove  them.  The  appeal  of  religion  was  formerly 
directed  to  the  individual  to  save  his  soul.  It  is  now  recognized  that  the  Gospel 
is  a  social  message  as  well  as  a  personal  one,  and  the  chief  appeal  to  the  individual 
is  to  co-operate  in  bringing  in  the  Kingdom  of  God.  It  is  instructive  to  contrast 
the  preaching  of  fifty  years  ago  with  that  of  the  present  decade.  Then  sermons 

39 


were  full  of  individual  privileges  and  duties;  now  the  emphasis  is  laid  upon  social 
responsibility. 

The  new  impetus  of  social  ideals  shows  its  results  in  a  two-fold  direction. 
In  the  first  place  it  has  broadened  immensely  the  scope  of  social  activity.  Hos- 
pitals, settlements,  associated  charities,  etc.,  bear  witness  to  the  varied  program. 
In  the  second  place  there  has  been,  along  with  this  zeal  for  social  service  a  tendency 
to  divorce  the  Churches  from  it,  as  if  their  interests  were  not  identical.  On  the 
one  hand,  church  members  have  complained  that  for  the  Churches  to  enter  actively 
into  social  work  is  to  secularize  religion,  and  on  the  other  hand,  men  who  are 
deeply  interested  in  all  forms  of  philanthropy  frankly  discredit  organized  Chris- 
tianity. 

The  danger  to  the  Churches,  if  they  permit  social  work  to  be  prosecuted 
without  their  co-operation,  has  been  forcefully  stated  by  the  previous  speaker 
(Rabbi  Meyer).  It  remains  to  emphasize  the  danger  to  social  service  if  it  is 
divorced  from  the  religious  ideals  and  inspiration  which  it  is  the  function  of  the 
Church  to  promote.  The  physician,  the  nurse,  the  charitable  worker  is  under 
constant  temptation  to  regard  the  individual  to  whom  he  ministers  as  "a  case." 
A  social  problem,  poverty,  disease,  becomes  impersonal.  The  necessity  of  scien- 
tific study  and  treatment  of  social  defects  is  apparent.  But  far  more  important 
than  the  solution  of  problems,  as  such,  is  the  cementing  of  man  to  man  in  the 
bonds  of  human  sympathy.  In  fact  the  solution  of  those  problems  waits,  not 
upon  the  academic  investigation  of  the  student,  but  upon  the  character  of  the 
personal  contact  between  social  workers  and  the  individuals  to  whom  their  work 
brings  them;  upon  the  realization  of  the  brotherhood  of  man.  The  establishment 
of  that  brotherhood  is  the  function  of  religion. 

We  lay  great  emphasis  in  these  days  upon  environment.  Better  housing, 
better  sanitation,  better  methods  of  social  administration,  better  economics  are 
the  means  upon  which  social  service  is  tempted  to  rely  to  produce  a  better  citi- 
zenship. It  ought  not  to  be  necessary  to  point  out  how  superficial  this  is.  There 
is  no  need  to  say  that  improved  environment  and  conditions  of  living  make  it 
easier  to  live  decently.  Of  course  they  do.  They  remove  certain  temptations 
to  wrong  doing,  but  they  bring  other  and  perhaps  no  less  dangerous  temptations. 

Absolutely  the  only  way  to  make  a  permanently  better  city  or  nation  is 
to  make  better  citizens.  To  do  that  you  must  change  not  only  the  outside  of 
a  man  but  the  inside;  supply  him  with  new  inspirations,  new  ideals,  new  motives. 
It  is  religion  alone  which  can  do  this.  When  Oliver  Cromwell  was  facing  the 
heavy  problems  of  his  day,  he  tells  us  that  he  chose  for  his  soldiers  such  men  as 
had  the  fear  of  God  before  their  eyes  and  made  some  conscience  of  what  they 
did.  He  declared  that  his  army,  so  constituted  was  never  beaten,  always  vic- 
torious. Long  before,  Jesus  said,  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  With  such  ideals 
social  service  can  look  forward  confidently  to  the  solution  of  the  problems  with 
which  it  is  confronted.  But  the  fear  of  God  and  the  love  of  man  are  the  motives 
of  religion. 


40 


Religion  and  Social  Progress 

BISHOP  WILLIAM  M.  BELL 

Religion  is  the  science  of  God  and  the  human  soul.  God,  on  whom  the 
soul  may  rest  when  the  days  are  cloudy  and  the  plains  of  life  are  bare.  The  soul, 
which  shares  in  the  life  and  aspirations  of  its  maker,  God.  Each  for  the  other 
and  both  for  time  and  eternity.  Religion  deals  with  that  which,  for  the  want 
of  a  better  word,  we  call  the  supernatural.  Some  day  the  soul  will  be  able  to 
dismiss  the  big,  hard  word.  We  already  feel  the  pull  in  that  direction.  The 
face  of  the  race  is  set  forward.  If  it  shall  move  in  the  direction  indicated  it  must 
move  toward  the  natural  and  the  super-natural  as  well ;  deeper  into  nature  and 
closer  up  to  God.  Man  universally  has  inherent  tendencies  toward  religion. 
The  tendency  is  not  always  recognized,  correctly  interpreted,  or  given  its  right 
name.  No  matter,  for  all  this,  as  to  the  fact,  for  it  remains  with  all  its  heavenly 
hopefulness  to  the  end  of  life  so  far  as  we  may  know.  Man  believes  in  the  exist- 
ence of  unseen  forces,  and  this  belief  even  if  not  always  intelligent,  is  basic  in 
religion.  He  believes  in  the  relation  of  these  unseen  forces  to  himself.  In  super- 
stition he  clothes  them  with  darkened  ways  and  cruel  might.  In  intelligent  faith 
he  clothes  them  with  benevolent  power  and  engages  with  them  in  a  ministry 
for  human  uplift.  It  seems  apparent  then  that  the  religious  instinct  is  an  essential 
part  of  the  human  constitution. 

A  sincere  and  hearty  interest  in  and  devotion  to  Christianity  and  an 
unselfish  interest  in  humanity  are  synonomous  states  of  the  heart  and  mind. 
Wherever  either  of  these  characteristics  genuinely  exist  you  may  be  assured 
that  both  are  present  as  forces  in  the  'life.  This  principle  is  not  always  fully 
appreciated  but  it  safely  may  be.  When  the  social  value  and  significance  of 
religion  is  to  be  estimated  put  these  facts  in  the  inventory. 

There  is  not  as  much  unselfish  interest  in  humanity  as  of  the  other  kind. 
Far  too  many  men  today  are  having  an  eye  upon  their  fellows  with  a  single 
thought  and  that  is  for  their  own  self-aggrandizement.  Men  do  make  merchan- 
dise of  the  fellow  beings.  This  is  the  cause  for  infinite  sorrow  and  burning  judge- 
ment at  last  for  God  by  his  moral  government  reaches  unfailingly  every  respon- 
sible being  and  compels  him  to  feel  the  sanctities  of  life. 

Whenever  any  religion  has  full  control  of  any  people  or  race  for  a  long 
period  of  time,  while  at  the  same  time  social  progress  has  been  paralyzed  and 
held  back,  it  becomes  self  evident  that  the  religion  having  control  is  lacking  in 
virility,  genuineness,  and  a  fundamental  capacity  for  social  elevation.  Here 
all  the  religions  of  the  world  must  absolutely  face  the  test  and  accept  the  verdict 
under  the  principle  laid  down  by  Jesus,  "By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them." 
At  the  present  moment  Christianity  as  every  other  religion  is  passing  under  the 
test  of  social  efficiency.  The  great  Founder  of  Christianity  never  shrank  from 
this  test  and  he  does  not  to  this  day.  If  the  Church  which  presumes  to  represent 
him  does,  it  by  so  much  repudiates  the  Lord  who  calls  upon  it  to  serve  human 
welfare  in  his  name.  The  age  is  ready  for  a  new  interpretation  of  the  church 
and  it  is  coming.  If  the  organized  church  gets  in  the  way  of  our  Lord's  program 
for  social  justice  and  advancement,  then  the  world  will  discriminate  between 
true  Christianity  and  the  ecclesiasticalism  that  misrepresents  him.  The  demand 
that  churchmen  shall  reflect  in  the  business  world  the  very  spirit  and  law  of 
Christ  is  fast  becoming  imperative  in  tone.  A  social  expression  of  Christianity 

41 


is  the  only  one  that  will  be  accepted  in  this  practical  age.  If  Christianity  can, 
in  the  light  of  such  a  test  as  this,  meet  the  world's  need,  it  is  reasonable  to  admit 
and  expect  that  it  will  speadily  become  the  one  welcome  religion  for  all  men. 

The  first  step  in  the  organization  of  the  early  Church  was  the  selection 
of  a  board  to  administer  the  relief  funds  to  the  poor.  It  seems  clear  that  the 
primative  concern  of  the  disciples  of  Christ  was  that  they  should  be  faithful  in 
a  social  ministry.  This  devotion  to  social  welfare  would  naturally  go  beyond 
relief  to  the  poor,  but  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  growing  interest  of  the  Church 
in  this  generation  in  social  reform  is  fully  justified.  It  is  clear  that  the  early 
Church  was  genuinely  religious  as  evidenced  in  its  democratic,  earnest,  and  spir- 
itual worship.  It  was  charged  with  a  vital  social  interest  as  is  evidenced  by  the 
fact  that  it  at  once  undertook  the  task  of  relieving  distress  and  overcoming 
poverty.  While  the  heart  of  the  early  Church  was  aflame  with  a  hearty  hope  of 
the  future  life,  while  heaven  was  often  in  mind  as  the  final  state  of  the  blessed, 
and  while  the  resurrection  of  Christ  was  on  every  tongue  and  the  resurrection 
of  believers  was  magnified,  yet  it  is  manifest  that  interest  in  present  social  im- 
provement was  keen  and  commanding.  Society  then,  as  now,  was  borne  down 
by  many  evils  and  these  were  sources  of  oppression  which  needed  to  be  restrained, 
and  the  first  century  Church  was  alert  to  its  responsibility  under  such  circum- 
stances. Genuine  Christianity  is  the  highest  embodiment  of  constructive  energy 
known  to  mankind. 

The  Church  of  the  twentieth  century  is  influential,  has  ample  wealth  in 
the  stewardship  of  its  members,  has  eminent  men  and  women  on  its  lists  every- 
where, and  hence  may  not  excuse  itself  from  social  interest.  The  time  is  ripe 
for  the  Church  to  undertake  definite  and  even  radical  programs. 

The  Church  and  Social  Work 

REV.  THOS.  C.  MARSHALL 

One  of  the  hopeful  signs  in  the  field  of  social  progress  today  is  the  growing 
closeness  of  relation  between  the  Church  and  the  social  movement.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  this  alliance  of  the  two  will  lead  to  more  and  more  complete  identi- 
fication until  it  comes  to  be  recognized  that  no  religion  meets  the  test  of  reality 
that  does  not  lead  out  into  the  service  of  humanity,  and  that  no  social  worker 
is  thoroughly  equipped  for  his  task  who  does  not  approach  his  work  with  the 
motive  and  the  spirit  of  religion. 

Social  workers  need  what  the  Church  has  to  give;  they  need  the  inspiration 
of  religion;  the  optimism,  sympathy  and  sensitiveness  of  touch  which  it  gives. 
They  need  religion  as  an  instrument  in  their  work  of  rehabilitation.  As  Frederick 
Almy  says,  "The  bottom  cause  of  involuntary  poverty  is  a  lack  of  character, 
and  through  the  centuries  religion  has  done  more  to  build  character  than  any 
other  force." 

Just  as  much  does  the  Church  need  the  social  worker  and  the  social  spirit. 
The  somewhat  uncertain  hold  of  the  Church  on  modern  life  is  due  in  large  part 
to  the  fact  that  the  thinking  of  the  Church  is  too  individualistic  and  too  exclusively 
other-worldly.  The  interests  of  the  people  of  today  are  this-worldly  and  social, 
and  there  is  therefore  little  point  of  contact.  Let  the  Church  revive  its  most 
ancient  doctrine,  the  doctrine  of  a  Kingdom  of  God  to  be  brought  to  earth;  let 

42 


it  teach  its  members  to  save  their  lives  by  being  willing  to  lose  them  in  the  ser- 
vice of  God  and  of  humanity;  let  it  show  the  men  of  today  the  possibility  of 
better  things  in  this  life  than  the  things  with  which  many  of  them  are  busy  that 
the  earthly  viewpoint  is  sound  enough  but  the  only  earth  worth  working  for  is 
"a  new  earth  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness;"  then  the  Church  will  be  true  to 
its  original  commission,  and  it  will  give  to  the  world  what  it  most  stands  in  need 
of,  and  incidentally  it  will  save  its  own  life. 

The  Church  and  Social  Work 

REV.  E.  GUY  TALBOTT 

The  Churches  have  been  the  great  generators  of  social  passion,  which 
finds  its  outlet  in  social  service.  Ninety  per  cent  of  all  social  workers  are  church 
members,  and  received  their  inspiration  for  social  work  from  the  Church.  As  a 
social  agency,  the  Church,  through  its  ministry,  should  mould  public  sentiment 
in  favor  of  all  measures  and  movements  making  for  social  justice. 

The  Churches  can  render  a  great  service  to  the  community  by  actively 
engaging  in  campaigns  for  social  surveys,  for  child  welfare,  for  public  health, 
for  social  purity,  for  recreation,  for  industrial  peace,  and  against  crime  and  poverty. 
The  Church  can  co-operate  with  the  charity  organizations  and  the  courts  by 
furnishing  friendly  visitors,  big  brothers  and  big  sisters.  The  playgrounds  and 
social  centers  need  voluntary  workers.  The  Church  as  a  social  organization  should 
co-operate  with  the  board  of  health,  housing  commission,  and  other  official  bodies 
in  social  betterment  work.  The  Church  should  also  co-operate  with  all  civic 
bodies  working  for  community  betterment. 

In  rural  communities  the  church  has  its  largest  opportunity  for  social 
service.  It  is  often  the  only  agency  in  the  community  ministering  to  the  cultural 
and  amusement,  as  well  as  the  religious  needs  of  the  community.  By  providing 
proper  recreation  and  amusements,  the  rural  Church  may  become  a  real  social 
factor. 

Each  local  church  should  keep  in  the  closest  touch  with  the  social  agencies 
and  institutions  of  its  community  and  co-operate  to  the  fullest  possible  extent. 

California  Social  Workers  Address  to  the  Churches 

Believing  that  the  ultimate  object  of  the  work  of  the  Churches  and  of 
of  the  social  organizations  as  represented  in  this  Conference  is  the  same,  namely 
the  securing  of  wholesome  conditions  for  the  living  of  human  life  in  order  that 
every  individual  may  have  the  opportunity  to  grow,  physically,  mentally,  morally 
and  spiritually,  to  the  full  stature  of  which  he  is  capable;  and  believing  that  the 
social  movement  needs  what  the  Churches  have  to  give  of  inspiration,  optimism, 
idealism  and  spiritual  force,  and  that  the  Churches  need  the  outlet  of  service 
and  the  point  of  contact  with  modern  life  which  the  social  movement  has  to  offer; 

The  Section  on  "Social  Work  for  the  Church"  of  the  California  Conference 
of  Charities  and  Corrections,  through  a  special  committee,  and  authorized  by 
the  action  of  the  Conference  in  the  City  of  Fresno  at  the  closing  session  of  its 
1915  Convention,  desires  to  bring  to  the  attention  of  the  Churches  of  California 
the  claims  of  this  great  modern  movement  for  social  betterment  and  the  largely 

43 


unused  opportunities  of  influence  which  social  service  presents  to  the  Churches 
and  which  lie  in  the  direction  of  the  Churches'  main  duty  of  the  inauguration  of 
the  rule  of  God  on  earth. 

(1)  Preventive  Social  Work  Through  Individual  Character  Building. 

We  would  emphasize  the  vast  contribution  which  the  Churches  can  make 
to  social  betterment  by  a  more  vigorous  prosecution  of  their  own  special  work 
of  spiritual  upbuilding.  In  its  last  analysis  the  social  problem  is  a  moral  problem 
and  the  great  need  of  today,  as  in  every  age,  is  a  need  of  character.  There  is, 
therefore,  no  more  valuable  preventive  or  constructive  work  for  any  Church  to 
do  than  to  make  its  religious  message  a  more  vital  force  in  the  individual  lives 
which  come  under  its  influence.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the  Sunday  School 
and  all  other  departments  of  Church  work  that  touch  the  lives  of  boys  and  girls. 
It  is  well  known  among  social  workers  that  few  delinquent  children  come  from 
the  ranks  of  the  Sunday  Schools.  However,  we  cannot  expect  the  Churches  to 
take  the  part  they  ought  to  take  in  social  work  until  they  have  socialized  their 
own  ideals.  That  means  not  only  that  individual  congregations  must  regard 
themselves  as  existing  to  serve  the  community  rather  than  to  serve  their  own 
ends,  but  also  that  they  must  socialize  their  relations  one  to  another.  At  present 
rich  and  well-equipped  Churches  cluster  in  the  parts  of  the  cities  where  they  can 
be  supported.  In  the  needy  parts,  where  there  is  a  crying  demand  for  real  work, 
and  in  the  new  districts  which  are  the  strategic  points  for  the  future,  we  find 
poor  buildings  and  ill  paid  ministers.  Is  it  not  possible  for  the  Churches  to  socialize 
their  incomes  and  their  property?  It  cannot  now  be  done  outside  denominational 
lines,  but  within  these  is  it  impossible  to  have  a  common  purse  in  a  given  city, 
to  have  a  proper  distribution  of  wealth,  to  have  no  distinction  of  poor  Churches 
and  rich  Churches  because  all  give  as  they  are  able  and  all  receive  from  the  com- 
mon fund  as  they  need?  No  Church  has  really  reached  the  point  of  entirely 
effective  social  service  until  it  would  count  it  wrong  to  rejoice  in  all  the  equip- 
ment that  money  can  bring  while  a  Church  a  mile  away  of  the  same  name  has 
a  poorly  paid  minister  and  a  wretched  building. 

In  the  same  general  direction  steps  may  be  taken  in  spite  of  denomina- 
tional lines  to  prevent  in  new  fields  the  overcrowding  of  Churches  at  given  points. 
It  seems  possible,  too,  that  in  new  districts  where  institutional  work  must  be 
prompted  by  the  Churches  that  the  Churches  themselves  of  different  names  could 
unite  in  carrying  on  one  large  social  center. 

Until  the  Churches  can  socialize  the  spirit  of  their  work  in  some  such  way 
as  this  they  cannot  enter  with  the  fullest  understanding  into  the  difficult  problems 
underlying  what  might  be  called  the  proper  socialization  of  society. 

(2)  Social  Work  Through   Co-operation   with   Social  Agencies. 

We  would  point  out  also  the  many  opportunities  presented  today  of  direct 
social  service,  and  the  great  need  of  freeing  the  social  energy  latent  in  the  Churches 
for  the  sake  both  of  the  reinforcement  of  the  social  movement  and  of  the  healthy 
reaction  which  must  result  to  the  Churches  themselves. 

The  simplest  and  most  practical  introduction  to  this  department  of  work 
that  can  be  made  is  the  undertaking  of  a  social  survey  in  the  particular  field  for 
which  any  Church  is  responsible;  the  study  of  conditions  of  living,  needs  of  the 
people  and  community  provisions  existing  for  meeting  such  needs.  By  such  a 
study,  begun  by  a  group  or  organization,  interest  will  surely  be  promoted  and 

44 


the  nature  and  magnitude  of  the  problem  will  become  appreciated.  Opportuni- 
ties of  service  so  many  and  so  great  will  present  themselves  that  the  only  question 
will  be  which  to  select  and  where  to  find  workers  for  the  harvest.  Ministering 
to  the  vast  population  of  the  unfortunate  and  often  friendless  in  our  jails,  public 
hospitals  and  county  farms;  active  work  in  the  interests  of  child  welfare,  public 
health,  social  purity,  adequate  recreational  facilities,  the  conservation  of  family 
life,  the  promotion  of  industrial  peace,  the  furnishing  of  employment,  the  abo- 
lition of  poverty,  vice  and  crime;  co-operation  with  charity  organization  societies, 
playgrounds,  social  centers,  housing  and  charities  commissions,  supplying  volun- 
teer workers,  and  securing  public  support  and  necessary  legislation,  suggest  some 
of  the  channels  through  which  the  splendid  force  of  the  Church  might  effectively 
be  directed. 

In  rural  communities  the  Church  has  the  largest  opportunity  to  assume 
leadership  in  the  field  of  social  work.  In  the  country  and  in  the  small  towns 
the  Churches  are  often  the  only  agencies  in  addition  to  the  public  schools  minis- 
tering to  the  recreational  and  the  cultural  life  of  the  people.  The  Church  here 
should  be  the  pioneer  of  social  service  and  by  becoming  such  can  establish  its 
hold  upon  the  whole  community  in  a  way  that  is  not  now  possible  in  the  larger 
towns  and  the  cities. 

In  its  relation  to  the  whole  field  of  social  work,  it  should  be  recognized 
that  the  permanent  function  of  the  Church  is  inspiration,  supplying  the  motive 
for  social  service.  But  inspiration  involves  leadership,  and  the  Church  that 
inspires  will  be  a  Church  that  takes  its  part  in  the  actual  work.  The  Church's 
relation,  however,  to  specific  social  betterment  movements,  should  be  that  of 
the  pioneer,  and  as  soon  as  the  value  of  any  pioneer  movement  is  sufficiently 
demonstrated,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  place  the  burden  on  the  community 
where  it  belongs,  or  on  the  appropriate  social  agency  and  to  go  on  to  do  new 
pioneer  work.  In  this  way  the  Church  can  most  surely  inspire  its  own  members 
and  give  right  direction  to  the  social  forces  which  are  seeking  for  expression  in 
every  community. 

(3)  Social  Work  Through  Mutual  Education  of  Church  and  Social 
Workers. 

We  would  call  the  attention  of  the  Churches  to  the  reorganization  of  the 
Conference  of  Charities  and  Corrections  under  the  name  of  the  California  State 
Conference  of  Social  Agencies,  and  to  the  Convention  to  be  held  in  Los  Angeles 
in  March,  1916,  at  which  time  the  special  problems  of  the  Church  and  Social 
Service  will  again  come  up  for  discussion  and  the  whole  field  of  social  work  will 
be  reviewed.  Ministers,  Churches  and  individuals  are  eligible  to  membership 
to  this  Conference,  and  there  is  no  way  in  which  the  Churches  can  more  directly 
come  into  touch  with  the  social  movement  in  the  State  than  by  affiliating  with 
this  Conference,  which  is  the  general  organization  for  the  State  meant  to  include 
all  departments  of  social  activity.  Inquiries  or  communications  with  regard 
to  the  Conference  may  be  addressed  to  Dr.  Milbank  Johnson,  President  Cali- 
fornia State  Conference  of  Social  Agencies,  1214  Marsh-Strong  Building,  Los 
Angeles,  or  Stuart  A.  Queen,  Secretary,  1006  Phelan  Building,  San  Francisco. 

(Signed)    Thomas  C.  Marshall,  Los  Angeles,  Cat. 
Edward  L.  Parsons,  Berkeley,  Cal. 
Christopher  Ruess,  Oakland,  Cal. 
Committee. 
45 


CHILD  WELFARE  WORK 
State  Aid  to  Children 

MR.  JOHN  FRANCIS  NEYLAN 

It  is  well  within  the  bounds  of  conservatism  to  assert  that  a  majority  of 
the  people  of  California  today  do  not  know  that  the  State  of  California  annually 
expends  a  sum  in  excess  of  $450,000  to  aid  unfortunate  children  who  are  left 
without  either  one  or  both  parents.  Included  in  this  majority,  the  Board  of 
Control  has  learned  by  actual  experience,  are  many  well  disposed  people  who  are 
active  in  securing  legislation  on  this  and  kindred  subjects. 

The  impression  seems  to  be  general  that  the  counties  are  very  generous  in 
dealing  with  dependent  children.  The  fact  is  that  more  than  90  per  cent  of  the 
public  money  contributed  to  the  support  of  these  children  comes  out  of  the  State 
Treasury  and  less  than  10  per  cent  out  of  the  county  treasuries.  It  would  there- 
fore seem  but  just  that  in  meeting  this  problem  in  the  future  serious  attention 
should  be  given  to  devising  means  of  inducing  the  counties  to  take  up  their 
rightful  share  of  this  burden.  San  Francisco  and  Alameda  counties  are  the 
only  subdivisions  of  the  State  which  today  attempt  to  meet  their  obligation  in 
this  respect. 

During  the  last  two  years  there  has  been  a  proper  supervision  of  the 
State's  expenditures  for  these  unfortunate  children  through  the  activities  of  the 
Children's  Agents  of  the  State  Board  of  Control.  These  three  Children's  Agents 
have  accomplished  excellent  results  against  the  big  odds  not  only  in  saving  to 
the  State  more  than  sufficient  to  pay  the  entire  amount  of  their  salaries  and 
expenses,  but  in  improving  the  condition  of  the  children  receiving  State  aid. 
These  results  have  been  obtained  to  a  very  large  degree  through  the  whole- 
hearted co-operation  of  county  authorities  and  of  the  enlightened  men  and  women 
who  give  their  time,  energy  and  means  to  modernize  and  improve  the  orphan- 
ages of  the  State. 

Many  unthinking  people  have  acquired  the  habit  of  condemning  all  the 
orphanages  of  the  State.  Without  the  slightest  foundation  in  fact  they  make 
the  most  absurd  statements  regarding  these  institutions.  Indiscriminately  they 
hurl  charges  of  the  most  violent  character.  They  are  not  only  committing  an 
outrageous  wrong  against  the  hundreds  of  excellent  men  and  women  who  are 
devoting  themselves  to  this  work,  but  they  are  hurting  the  little  unfortunate 
children  who  need  help  most  of  all,  namely,  those  who  because  of  deformity  or 
unattractiveness  stand  no  chance  of  being  adopted  into  families. 

No  sane  man  or  woman  in  this  day  and  age  will  advocate  putting  a  child 
in  any  institution  if  that  child  can  be  provided  with  a  proper  home.  No  sane 
man  or  woman  will  advocate  keeping  a  child  in  an  institution  if  it  can  be  adopted 
out  into  a  proper  home.  But  every  man  and  woman  who  is  just  and  admires 
unselfish  labor  in  the  interest  of  others  will  accord  full  praise  to  the  men  and 
women  who  have  made  many  of  our  orphanages  models.  No  group  of  people  in 
California  today  are  doing  a  better  work  than  the  directors  of  the  Sacramento 

46 


Orphanage  and  Farm,  which  today  stands  at  the  head  of  the  list  of  the  forty- 
three  orphanages  in  California  receiving  State  aid.  It  would  also  be  well  for 
those  interested  in  children's  work  to  become  acquainted  with  the  accomplish- 
ments of  the  Los  Angeles  Orphan  Home,  the  Pasadena  Training  Society,  and 
with  the  work  of  the  Dominican  Sisters.  Many  other  orphanages  are  accom- 
plishing excellent  results. 

In  connection  with  the  orphanages  it  is  also  interesting  to  note  that  the 
number  of  children  for  whom  they  are  receiving  State  aid  diminished  from  4,875 
in  1904,  to  3,577  in  1912,  and  to  2,451  in  1914.  No  more  proof  should  be  needed 
to  convince  the  most  exacting  person  that  those  children  available  for  adoption 
into  homes  are  being  placed  with  the  full  co-operation  of  the  enlightened  institutions. 

It  is  also  interesting  to  note  the  number  of  children  outside  of  institutions 
who  are  being  aided  by  the  State.  In  1904  the  number  was  2,497;  in  1912  it  was 
3,410;  in  1914  it  was  4,977. 

If  you  will  compare  the  totals  you  will  note  that  in  1914  the  aggregate 
is  7,428  as  against  7,372  in  1904,  in  spite  of  the  enormous  growth  of  the  State 
and  in  spite  of  the  widespread  agitation  of  this  question  in  the  last  few  years. 
You  will  also  note,  however,  the  fact  that  the  children  outside  of  institutions 
receiving  aid  more  than  doubled,  while  those  in  institutions  decreased  just  about 
one-half. 

The  cases  of  the  dependency  of  these  children  also  form  an  interesting 
study.  In  sixty-three  per  cent  of  the  cases  the  fathers  died  of  preventable  causes 
as  follows: 

Tuberculosis 27  per  cent 

Industrial  Accidents.- 18  per  cent 

Pneumonia 1 3  per  cent 

Typhoid  Fever 5  per  cent 

Please  note  the  fact  that  18  per  cent  of  these  children  became  charges 
on  the  State  when  their  fathers  were  killed  while  trying  to  earn  a  living.  This 
was  prior  to  the  passage  of  the  Workmen's  Compensation  Act.  We  now  get  no 
more  cases  from  that  source. 

We  are  making  rapid  advances  along  the  lines  of  improving  the  conditions 
of  these  children.  It  is  a  work  which  deserves  the  best  efforts  of  all  of  us,  but 
in  which  we  should  proceed  thoughtfully. 

The  Board  of  Control  this  year  is  advocating  raising  the  age  limit  of 
children  receiving  aid  from  14  years  to  15  years  to  conform  with  the  school  law 
and  child  labor  laws;  it  also  advocates  requiring  at  least  two  years'  residence 
in  the  State  before  aid  can  be  granted;  it  also  advocates  requiring  a  man  to  care 
for  the  children  his  wife  may  have  had  by  a  former  marriage;  and,  probably 
most  important  of  all,  it  hopes  to  eliminate  for  all  time  the  practice  prevalent 
in  many  counties  of  giving  aid  in  grocery  orders,  except  in  cases  where  such  a 
course  is  deemed  wise  on  proper  showing.  Under  the  vicious  grocery  order  practice 
in  some  counties  the  local  grocer  has  been  for  many  years  a  petty  tyrant  before 
whom  a  helpless  mother  had  to  bend  or  accept  the  risk  of  losing  the  aid  needed 
for  her  children. 

47 


State  Aid  to  Children 

(Widows'  Pension  Act) 
MISS  MARGARET  NESFIELD 

As  far  back  as  the  early  Spartan  Republic,  and  probably  earlier  still,  the 
fact  was  recognized  that  the  healthy  and  well  brought  up  child  is  the  most  valu- 
able asset  the  State  can  have.  Although  this  fact  has  been  realized  for  so  long, 
it  is  only  in  very  recent  years  that  any  active  and  intelligent  State  legislation 
has  been  made  on  the  subject.  As  with  most  other  social  obligations  that  are 
now  assumed  by  the  State  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  help  extended  to  orphans, 
half-orphans  and  abandoned  children  has,  until  very  recently,  been  extended 
through  the  various  Church  organizations  and  private  charities.  Inadequate  as 
this  help  has  often  been,  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  long  before  the  State 
assumed  its  responsibilities  in  the  matter,  the  widow  and  orphan  were  provided 
for  by  these  agencies,  and  we  have  hardly  been  working  long  enough  to  criticise 
too  harshly  the  work  that  would  have  been  left  to  hap-hazard  chance  had  it  not 
been  taken  up  in  this  way. 

I  am  going  to  take  advantage  of  the  fact  that  Mr.  Neylan's  paper  in 
opening  the  discussion  has  touched  on  all  the  methods  of  State  Aid  for  children, 
and  that  his  position  as  President  of  the  State  Board  of  Control  gives  him  the 
broadest  view  point  of  the  subject,  to  limit  myself  in  this  discussion,  to  the  cause, 
methods,  legislation  and  prevention  of  State  Aid  in  the  particular  field  with 
which  I  am  most  familiar;  the  help  that  is  extended  to  Widowed  Mothers,  for 
the  care  of  their  half-orphaned  children  in  their  own  homes.  With  your  per- 
mission, I  would  like  to  further  restrict  myself  to  the  limitations  which  we  con- 
sider vital  to  the  successful  administration  of  this  help  and  to  the  legal  authority 
we  have  for  the  exacting  of  these  limitations,  as  this  is  a  point  that  has  been  of 
great  interest  to  our  office  in  the  year  and  a  half,  of  formative  work,  that  we 
have  just  passed  through,  and  as  I  am  hopeful  that  the  subject  is  one  that  will 
bring  up  a  discussion  valuable  in  future  work. 

In  extending  State  Aid  to  widowed  mothers,  the  Assembly  Bill  under 
which  the  help  is  given  limits  the  cause  to  the  death  of  the  father,  as  it  provides 
for  the  support  of  half-orphans  under  the  age  of  fourteen  maintained  at  home 
by  the  mother.  The  San  Francisco  Office,  in  the  administration  of  the  Act  abides 
strictly  by  the  wording  and,  although  half-orphan  aid  is  allowed  by  the  State 
to  children  where  there  has  been  no  marriage,  and  to  children  whose  parents  are 
in  State  Penal  Institutions,  and  to  half-orphans  who  are  boarded  with  relatives, 
all  such  cases  in  San  Francisco  are  referred  to  the  Juvenile  Court,  where  the 
children  may  be  cared  for  under  subdivisions  1 ,  2  and  3  of  Section  2  of  the  Juvenile 
Court  Act. 

AH  cases  where  there  is  a  question  of  the  moral  standard  of  the  home, 
of  the  intemperance  of  the  mother  or  of  her  unwillingness  or  her  inability  to 
properly  care  for  the  children,  or  where  there  are  older  children  in  the  home  who 
should  be  compelled  to  contribute  their  share  to  the  support  of  the  family,  are 
also  referred  to  the  Juvenile  Court.  Should  the  Judge  decide  the  case  worthy 
of  consideration,  the  family  may  be  placed  on  Probation  and  if  this  fails  the 

48 


younger  children  may  be  legally  removed  from  the  home  and  placed  in  private 
families  or  in  institutions  where  they  will  be  properly  protected.  Another  re- 
striction imposed  by  this  office  along  the  line  of  keeping  up  the  moral  standard 
of  the  home,  is  that  as  far  as  possible  no  mother  shall  increase  her  income  by 
having  men  roomers  or  boarders.  This  ruling  obtains  in  most  of  the  states  where 
there  are  pension  acts,  and  it  seems  wiser  to  expend  a  little  extra  money  in  main- 
taining this  standard  than  in  allowing  the  moral  status  of  the  home  to  be  jeopard- 
ized. 

It  is  particularly  concerning  these  limitations  and  of  the  right  of  the  office 
to  impose  them  that  I  would  like  to  ask  your  consideration  because  they  are 
fundamental  to  the  success  of  the  work,  which  perhaps  is  even  yet  looked  upon 
by  some  social  workers  as  an  experiment.  Before  going  any  further  it  should 
be  kept  in  mind  that  in  paying  this  money  to  the  mothers  for  the  care  and  support 
of  their  children,  the  question  of  charity  does  not  enter  into  the  consideration 
of  the  case.  The  State  owes  this  care  to  the  child  as  much  and  really  more  than 
it  owes  him  an  education.  The  fact  that  there  is  this  obligation  on  the  part  of 
the  State  implies  that  a  certain  return  in  service  must  be  made  by  the  mother 
and  if  she  cannot  perform  the  duties  which  the  State  is  willing  to  pay  for,  it  is 
only  logical  that  the  children  should  be  cared  for  in  some  other  way. 

In  answer  to  any  objections  that  may  be  made  that  this  high  standard 
demanded  by  the  Widows'  Pension  Bureau  may  work  a  hardship  in  many  homes 
it  must  be  pointed  out  that  where  there  is  a  hope  that  the  moral  standard  of  the 
home  may  be  improved  and  that  there  is  a  possibility  of  helping  the  children 
under  supervision  without  removing  them  from  the  care  of  the  mother,  the 
Juvenile  Court  has  the  authority  to  step  in  and  give  aid  in  the  home  until  it  is 
proven  beyond  a  doubt  that  the  children  are  better  off  elsewhere.  -This  line  of 
demarkation  between  the  cases  that  may  be  handled  by  the  Juvenile  Court  and 
by  the  Widows'  Pension  Bureau  is  of  fundamental  importance  in  large  cities, — 
and,  even  in  small  towns  where  the  work  of  the  Pension  Office  and  of  the  Juvenile 
Court  are  all  attended  to  by  the  same  person  it  would  seem  vital  that  for  the 
protection  of  the  children  all  cases  where  there  is  a  question  of  the  moral  con- 
dition of  the  home  should  come  before  the  Juvenile  Court  instead  of  being  merely 
passed  upon  for  aid  by  the  County  Board  of  Supervisors. 

A  restriction  of  minor  importance  that  is  insisted  upon  in  the  San  Fran- 
cisco office  is  that  an  applicant  must  be  a  resident  of  the  City  and  County  for 
one  year  before  aid  is  granted  unless  the  case  has  been  receiving  State  aid  in 
some  other  county  and  is  transferred.  This  regulation  is  to  protect  the  City  and 
County  Treasury  because  it  has  become  generally  known  that  San  Francisco 
is  supplementing  the  State  aid  with  a  County  appropriation  and  that  this  help 
is  always  given  in  money  and  not,  as  has  heretofore  been  done  in  some  other 
counties,  administered  in  the  form  of  grocery  or  merchandise  orders. 

The  State  Board  of  Control  has  limited  the  number  of  cases  where  aid 
may  be  granted  to  those  where  the  property  valuation  is  not  in  excess  of  one 
thousand  dollars.  This  is  a  definition  of  "need"  as  specified  in  the  act.  A  second 
definition  of  "need"  is  that  the  minimum  standard  of  living  for  a  large  family 
is  $10  per  capita  and  about  $10  extra,  the  equivalent  of  rent.  In  families  of 
three  or  less  $15  per  capita  is  the  basis. 

In  touching  on  the  question  of  Legislation  the  first  thing  that  impresses 
one  in  the  Act  under  which  the  aid  to  widowed  mothers  is  administered,  is  that 
it  is  so  loosely  drawn  up  and  in  reality  that  it  consists  only  of  a  few  clauses  added 

49 


to  the  old  Act  providing  for  the  care  of  orphans,  half-orphans  and  abandoned 
children  in  institutions  and  through  county  agencies.  In  the  first  section,  it  is 
rather  amusing  to  note  that  the  clause,  "Provided  that  in  addition  to  the  amount 
paid  by  the  State  for  each  half-orphan  maintained  at  home  by  its  mother"  refers 
back  to  nothing  as  there  is  no  statement  in  the  Section  of  the  State's  paying 
anything  to  such  half-orphans  maintained  at  home  by  the  mother.  Of  course, 
indirectly,  the  provision  that  the  County  may  maintain  half-orphan  children 
outside  of  institutions  covers  this  point.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  also  that 
Assembly  Bill  1 108  must  be  taken  in  conjunction  with  Art.  4,  Sec.  22,  Constitution 
of  California,  which  states  that  "the  Legislature  shall  have  the  power  to  grant 
aid  to  institutions  conducted  for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  minor  orphans, 
or  half-orphans,  or  abandoned  children  or  aged  persons  in  indigent  circumstance, 

provided  further  that  whenever  any  county  or  city  and  county  or  city 

or  town  shall  provide  for  the  support  of  minor  orphans  or  half-orphans  or  aban- 
doned children  or  aged  persons  in  indigent  circumstances,  such  county,  city  and 
county  or  city  or  town  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  the  same  pro  rata  appro- 
priation as  may  be  granted  to  such  institutions  under  Church  or  other  control." 

Section  246  of  the  Civil  Code  also  should  be  taken  in  conjunction  with 
the  Assembly  Bill.  This  states  that  "in  awarding  custody  of  minors  the  Court 
or  officer  is  to  be  guided  by  what  appears  to  be  for  the  best  interests  of  the  child 
in  respect  to  its  temporal,  its  mental  and  its  moral  welfare."  It  must  be  also 
remembered  that  the  Finance  Committees  of  the  County  Boards  of  Supervisors 
can  make  regulations  concerning  the  administration  of  county  funds  and  that 
the  State  Board  of  Control  has  the  same  supervisory  power  over  all  State  moneys, 
so  that  both  the  County  Boards  and  the  State  Board  can  refuse  aid  provided 
in  the  Act  unless  certain  conditions  are  complied  with.  These  supplementary 
laws  make  the  Widows'  Pension  Act  effective  as  it  stands.  Its  very  vagueness 
is  rather  a  help  than  a  hindrance  to  the  work  in  its  present  stage.  The  fact  that 
there  is  no  mention  in  the  Act  of  the  method  of  administration;  and,  that  the 
State  Board  of  Control  has  left  this  to  the  various  Boards  of  Supervisors  has 
made  it  possible  to  have  the  law  carried  out  under  the  Associated  Charities  in 
Alameda  County;  under  the  County  Board  of  Charities  in  Los  Angeles;  through 
the  Juvenile  Courts  in  various  other  counties,  and  through  the  establishment 
of  the  Widows'  Pension  Bureau  in  San  Francisco.  In  the  near  future,  when  the 
problem  has  been  sufficiently  worked  out,  the  demand  will  come  for  a  Widow's 
Pension  Act,  that  is  clear,  concise  and  legal-proof;  but,  the  freedom  from  restric- 
tions by  hard  and  fast  lines,  has  in  the  initial  work  been  of  advantage. 

Widow's  Pensions  will  undoubtedly  in  the  future  become  a  part  of  a  social 
insurance  scheme,  as  this  is  the  only  possible  security  against  the  poverty  that 
comes  from  the  death  of  the  bread  winner.  This  insurance  cannot  wholly  elimi- 
nate the  necessity  of  State  aid.  The  time  it  will  take  to  work  out  a  feasible 
scheme;  added  to  the  fact  that  it  will  be  years  before  the  compulsory  insurance 
of  the  wage  earner,  amounts  to  enought  to  materially  lessen  the  burden  on  the 
State  must  be  taken  into  consideration.  During  this  interval  a  new  generation 
of  little  citizens  must  be  properly  provided  for,  so  that  they  may  take  their  places 
as  efficient  members  in  the  community.  The  office  in  San  Francisco  is  at  this 
moment  perturbed  over  the  desperate  plight  of  a  family  that,  had  the  Widow's 
Pension  Act  been  in  force  several  years  ago,  would  have  now  been  in  good  health 
and  in  a  position  to  be  self-supporting.  The  mother  of  this  family  is  a  woman 
of  the  highest  type,  one  of  those  whom  it  is  always  a  privilege  to  be  able  to  help. 

50 


She  was  left  a  widow  with  a  small  daughter  and  two  little  boys  to  care  for.  She 
worked  desperately  hard  to  keep  them  and  is  now  working  beyond  her  strength; 
but,  the  struggle  was  too  hard  for  the  health  of  the  children.  After  the  earthquake, 
she  was  obliged  for  a  while  to  place  them  in  institutions.  When  the  oldest  boy 
should  have  been  ready  for  work,  it  was  discovered  that  he  had  developed  rickets 
from  mal-nutrition;  later  he  was  attacked  by  inflamatory  rheumatism.  As  a 
result  of  the  rheumatism,  a  weakened  condition  of  the  kidneys  developed.  The 
mother  worked  over  him,  night  and  day  for  over  a  year,  in  order  to  save  him  from 
blood  poisoning.  This  she  succeeded  in  doing;  but,  nevertheless,  he  has  lost  his 
eyesight  and  as  he  can  earn  nothing  and  is  a  burden  to  his  mother,  he  thinks 
now  there  is  nothing  for  him  to  do  but  go  to  some  Blind  Asylum,  although  the 
doctors  have  told  him  that  his  life  depends  on  a  strict  diet  that  cannot  be  sup- 
plied in  any  institution.  If  the  passage  of  a  Pension  Act  had  come  ten  years 
earlier,  in  this  particular  case  the  family  would  have  been  spared  untold  misery, 
and  three  lives  would  have  been  made  of  far  greater  use  to  the  community.  The 
improved  physical  condition  of  the  mother  and  children  after  the  receipt  of  the 
pension  is  one  of  the  strongest  pleas  for  Pension  Legislation. 

It  seems  sad  that  the  caring  for  little  children  by  the  mother  in  her  own 
home,  which  is  the  most  natural  solution  of  the  problem  in  dependency,  that 
arises  from  the  death  of  the  father,  should  have  only  recently  come  to  the  minds 
of  legislators  and  Social  Service  workers,  and  it  is  hoped  that  the  initial  work 
in  this  direction  may  be  allowed  to  develop  successfully  by  an  insistance  upon 
the  high  moral  standard  in  the  homes  to  which  children  are  allowed  to  remain 
under  the  care  of  the  mother. 

In  closing  I  am  going  to  ask  permission  to  draw  your  attention  to  a  sen- 
tence in  Kirkman  Gray's  "Philanthropy  and  the  State"  with  which  we  opened 
our  report  of  the  work  of  the  San  Francisco  Office  during  the  last  year.  "The 
mother  as  such  is  a  social  servant,  discharging  a  State  function.  The  real  question 
does  not  move  in  the  sphere  of  philanthropy  at  all,  but  in  that  of  Social  obligation." 


Child  Placing 

MISS  MARY  E.  BRUSIE 

In  taking  up  the  subject  of  child-placing,  I  hope  I  shall  not  make  you 
feel  that  I  have  fallen  into  the  evil  of  thinking  that  all  things  worth  while  revolve 
around  our  little  plant  or  system,  although  our  system  is  a  little  different  from 
any  heretofore  considered,  but  Dr.  Peixotto  has  asked  me  to  present  the  methods 
of  raising  money,  finding  homes,  investigating  and  supervising  homes,  as  done 
by  the  Native  Sons  and  Native  Daughters  of  California, — to  give  you  some  idea 
as  to  our  standard,  records,  etc.,  and  to  do  it  in  fifteen  minutes.  The  Native 
Sons  and  Native  Daughters  Central  Committee  on  Homeless  Children  is  com- 
posed of  ten  members.  Three  representing  Native  Sons,  three  representing 
Native  Daughters,  one  representing  Associated  Charities  of  California,  one 
representing  Protestant  Organizations,  one  representing  Catholic  organizations, 
and  one  representing  the  Hebrew  Institutions.  This  committee  governs  and 
directs  the  policies  (through  its  Secretary)  of  the  work  that  is  being  wholly  and 
adequately  financed  by  the  Native  Sons  and  Native  Daughters  of  this  State. 

51 


It  was  in  May,  1907,  that  the  plan  was  first  presented  to  the  two  organ- 
izations by  Mr.  Fairfax  H.  Wheelan,  a  Native  Son,  and  long  and  actively  engaged 
in  charitable  .work,  and  Miss  Katherine  C.  Felton,  Secretary  of  the  Associated 
Charities  of  San  Francisco,  who  conceived  the  plan  and  estimated  the  possibil- 
ities for  efficiency  in  the  carrying  on  of  this  work  by  a  fraternal  organization 
with  a  membership  scattered  throughout  the  State.  Judge  Murasky,  Judge 
Leenon,  Charles  M.  Belshaw,  (Chairman  then  and  Chairman  still),  Father 
Harrigan  and  Mr.  Wheelan,  were  among  the  members  of  the  first  Committee 
who  were  instrumental  in  awakening  enthusiasm  and  who  were  responsible  for 
plans  of  organization.  Too  great  credit  cannot  be  given  to  Mrs.  Emma  Lillie, 
now  Mrs.  Humphrey,  the  first  Secretary,  who,  because  of  her  wide  acquaintance 
and  popularity  in  both  Orders,  her  pleasing  personality,  ability,  and  contagious 
enthusiasm  was  able  to  give  the  work  the  publicity  it  needed.  The  response 
by  the  men  and  women,  fortunate  enough  to  have  been  born  in  California,  was 
electrical!  They  seemed  to  recognize  at  once  their  opportunity  to  start  a  child 
on  the  road  to  good  citizenship. 

I  recall  a  clear  eyed,  fine  athletic  looking  young  Native  Son  who  came 
into  our  office  and  said:  "I  came  in  to  ask  a  few  questions  about  the  homeless 
children's  work.  It  sure  is  a  great  stunt  putting  kids  into  good  homes.  Seems 
to  me  there  isn't  anything  I  wouldn't  do  to  help  it  along.  I  wish  that  someone 
had  put  me  into  the  right  kind  of  a  home  when  I  was  little;  I  might  have  amounted 
to  something  and  not  been  such  a  'rough  neck';"  and  then  he  told  me  in  detail 
of  his  drunken  father  and  discouraged  drinking  mother  who  had  made  his  home 
intolerable  and  hideous,  and  he  was  earnest  and  sincere  in  his  desire  to  do  what 
he  could  for  a  work  whose  object  is  to  provide  respectable  homes  and  loving 
parents  for  the  child  in  need  of  them — and  so  it  has  been  with  hundreds  and 
hundreds  of  other  Native  Sons  and  Native  Daughters,  not  so  handicapped  as 
this  young  man — prominent  men  of  affairs  and  women  of  education  and  refine- 
ment, eager  to  become  identified  with  the  work  because  they  were  convinced 
that  home  and  family  life  furnish  the  only  normal  and  natural  condition  for  the 
rearing  of  children.  I  don't  suppose  they  realized  at  that  time  that  for  every 
unwelcome  orphaned  or  abandoned  boy  or  girl  there  was  some  place  in  the  State 
of  California,  a  childless  home.  They  never  dreamed,  I  am  sure,  that  after  the 
first  year  of  the  work  there  never  would  be  a  time  when  there  were  not  from  100 
to  150  applicants  waiting  for  children.  They  knew,  however,  that  there  were 
healthy,  normal  children,  whose  parents  had  died  or  abandoned  them,  or  who 
had  been  taken  by  Judicial  decree  from  unfit  parents  who  should  be  given  the 
benefit  of  a  really  truly  home,  a  loving  mother  and  father,  and  they  were  willing 
to  pledge  themselves  to  make  every  effort  to  find  these  homes.  They  knew  it 
would  cost  money  to  investigate  homes,  take  the  children  to  their  homes  and 
supervise  them  after  they  were  placed,  but  they  willingly  assumed  the  financial 
ersponsibility  and  the  Order  expends  over  $6,000.00  annually  in  this  work,  with- 
out any  hope  of  personal  gain  or  reward,  beyond  the  rearing  of  a  better  manhood 
and  womanhood  in  this  State.  This  expenditure  of  $6,146.49,  for  this  year  re- 
presents the  placing  of  199  children  at  a  cost  of  $30.88  for  one  child.  The  method 
of  raising  money  is  through  entertainments  given  once  a  year  (and  once  only) 
by  the  Parlors  (as  the  sub-organizations  are  designated)  of  Native  Sons  and 
Native  Daughters  throughout  the  State.  This  is  soliciting  from  the  public  in 
a  way,  but  those  who  attend  are  supposed  to  get  value  received.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  the  inhabitants  of  the  250  or  more  towns  in  which  Parlors  have  been 

52 


organized,  are  beginning  to  expect  and  look  forward  to,  and  to  patronize  the 
yearly  benefit  for  the  Homeless  Children.  Some  of  the  Parlors  prefer  to  contri- 
bute from  their  funds,  but  the  Central  Committee  urges  the  entertainment,  as 
in  this  way  publicity  is  gained.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  no  entertainment  ever 
has  been  given  that  did  not  result  in  the  finding  of  at  least  one  home  for  a  child, 
and  it  may  be  said  that  no  child  ever  was  placed  in  a  home  that  did  not  inspire 
others  to  make  application. 

Anyone  applying  for  a  child  must  fill  out  an  application  blank  as  long 
as  a  census  form  (but  without  one  unnecessary  question  to  our  way  of  thinking), 
and  must  give  four  references.  Blanks  are  sent  to  these  references  who  are  sup- 
posed to  give  an  honest  opinion  of  the  home  and  applicants,  but  they  are  of  value 
only  in  eliminating  perhaps  of  decidedly  undesirable  homes,  and  are  not  con- 
sidered reliable  as  a  method  of  making  final  determination  of  the  question. 

In  a  large  number  of  cases  we  have  had  opportunity  to  personally  inter- 
view the  applicant  before  our  investigation  of  the  home  is  made.  We  often  have 
had  opportunity  to  visit  with  our  applicants  in  an  unhurried  way  three  or  four 
different  times,  and  have  ample  opportunity  to  study  their  dispositions  and 
natures,  for  in  order  to  see  our  children,  one  must  go  about  from  boarding  place 
to  boarding  place,  which  of  course  means  time  and  patience  and  energy,  but 
they  are  so  terribly  in  earnest  (the  majority  of  them)  these  warm-hearted  men 
and  women,  that  they  don't  mind.  They  know  it  is  worth  while,  and  always 
approve  of  the  mothering  of  the  children  made  possible  by  this  boarding  out  plan, 
and  while  they  may  return  worn  and  weary,  they  are  sunny  and  there  is  a  radiance 
in  their  faces  when  they  tell  of  some  particular  child  whom  they  have  been  at- 
tracted to. 

The  greater  number  of  our  homes  are  investigated  by  the  Secretary  or 
assistant  secretaries.  If  the  investigation  is  left  to  a  member  of  the  Order  (who 
lives  in  the  vicinity  of  the  applicant;  and  whose  capacity  for  judging  a  home 
has  been  proved)  one  of  the  three  paid  workers  takes  the  child  to  the  home  and 
makes  her  own  investigation  in  a  quiet  way  at  that  time,  and  to  the  credit  of 
the  volunteer  worker  be  it  known  that  only  once  have  I  brought  a  child  back 
from  a  home  (favorably  reported  upon)  because  it  did  not  come  up  to  our  re- 
quirements. 

The  test  of  value  in  the  work  done  is  in  the  results  which  are  obtained, 
and  I  feel  confident  that  our  women  whom  we  have  learned  to  trust  and  whose 
judgment  we  have  reason  to  rely  upon  give  the  greatest  care  and  most  conscien- 
tious thoughts  to  the  selection  of  a  home.  I  think  they  realize  to  the  utmost  the 
grave  responsibility  which  we  have  all  voluntarily  assumed  for  the  care  and  com- 
fort and  well-being  of  a  child.  Everyone  of  us  realizes  that  we  have  undertaken 
to  determine  who  shall  be  the  mother,  who  shall  be  the  father,  where  shall  be 
the  home,  what  shall  be  his  intellectual  training,  his  religious  and  moral  training, 
his  physical  training,  and  that  in  all  of  this  the  child  has  no  voice,  and  woe  unto 
the  applicant  who  cannot  measure  up  to  the  mark  if  he  gives  a  Native  Son  or 
a  Native  Daughter  as  a  reference.  It  matters  not  what  our  own  standards  of  living 
may  be,  we  demand  the  best  for  the  child.  Two  young  men  came  into  our  office 
one  day  last  week  to  inquire  if  a  certain  man  and  woman  had  applied  to  us  for 
a  child.  When  I  said,  "yes, " — they  replied,  "Well,  they  told  us  they  were  going 
to,  they  are  friends  of  ours,  we  like  to  run  around  with  them  and  have  a  good 
time,  but  they  fight  like  the  mischief,  visit  cafes,  and  the  woman  drinks  more 

53 


than  she  should  and  we  can't  stand  for  putting  a  child  into  that  home.     We  are 
Native  Sons!" 

We  had  personally  ascertained  these  facts,  much  to  our  surprise,  as  the 
woman  was  refined,  comely,  and  seemed  devoted  to  children,  but  it  was  grati- 
fying to  know  that  these  young  men  felt  their  responsibility  for  the  work  suf- 
ficiently to  take  the  time  to  come  to  our  office  and  make  this  report. 

If  we  are  conscientious  seekers  after  the  good  homes,  we  must  find  out 
first  the  environments  of  the  home,  the  distance  from  schools,  churches,  the  con- 
dition of  the  house  in  which  foster  parents  live  as  to  sanitation  and  cleanliness, 
whether  it  is  cheerful,  what  sort  of  pictures  on  the  wall,  what  kind  of  reading 
matter.  We  must  know  if  the  father  to  be  is  kind  to  his  wife,  to  those  in  his 
employ,  and  to  his  animals;  what  his  age,  state  of  health,  whether  he  is  clean- 
minded  and  not  profane,  temperate,  what  his  attitude  towards  religion,  whether 
he  pays  his  debts,  what  his  financial  condition,  his  reputation  among  his  acquain- 
tances and  neighbors.  We  must  ascertain  whether  the  mother  is  refined  in  manner 
and  speech,  neat  about  her  personal  appearance,  in  good  health,  her  age,  whether 
she  is  strictly  temperate.  What  value  she  places  on  education,  hygiene,  her 
ideas  concerning  religious  training  and  recreation,  and  what  motive  inspired  her 
to  take  a  child  for  adoption;  all  of  which  must  be  ascertained  without  seeming 
to  pry,  and  the  would-be  parents  made  to  appreciate  the  greatness  of  our  re- 
sponsibility. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  careless,  indifferent,  illegal  and  unauthorized 
placing  of  children  in  this  State  of  ours  by  matrons  of  maternity  homes,  midwife's 
hospitals,  and  by  institutions  who  are  in  no  way  equipped  financially  or  other- 
wise to  properly  investigate  or  supervise  the  homes,  and  the  worst  of  it  is  there 
doesn't  seem  to  be  any  remedy. 

When  it  comes  to  the  selection  of  children  for  placement,  we  depend  upon 
the  societies  or  agents  who  have  been  awarded  the  custody  of  the  children,  to 
determine  whether  placing  in  a  home  for  adoption  seems  the  best  solution.  When 
the  children  are  relinquished  by  the  mothers  and  fathers  to  our  society,  it  is  only 
after  we  have  made  careful  and  detailed  inquiry  into  the  circumstances  of  the 
child;  whether  the  parents  are  fit  guardians,  or  whether  there  is  any  chance  of 
making  them  fit  guardians  and  whether  there  are  responsible  relations  who  can 
care  for  the  child. 

When  the  unmarried  mother  comes  to  us  to  relinquish  her  child  we  make 
every  effort  to  work  out  some  plan  which  will  enable  her  to  keep  her  baby.  In 
several  instances,  7  out  of  35  this  year,  we  have  given  temporary  care  in  order 
that  she  may  get  in  touch  with  friends  or  relatives  who  will  keep  her.  One  little 
mother,  whose  home  is  up  in  the  extreme  northern  part  of  the  State  was  given 
a  month  in  which  to  make  up  her  mind,  and  the  last  day  she  came  in  beaming 
because  she  had  induced  her  mother  to  let  her  take  her  baby  home.  We  always 
secure  the  relinquishments  from  the  mothers,  however,  that  there  may  be  no 
legal  complications  should  they  not  appear  at  the  time  designated;  tearing  them 
up  to  satisfy  her  and  as  a  sort  of  grim  secret  satisfaction  to  ourselves,  when  she 
does  come  back. 

A  woman  came  into  our  office  two  weeks  ago  asking  us  to  accept  for 
adoption  a  six  weeks  boy  she  had  brought  from  the  East  at  the  request  of  the 
child's  dying  mother.  She  answered  all  questions  willingly,  gave  the  name  of 

54 


the  physician  who  had  attended  the  mother,  his  address  in  a  small  town  in 
Illinois,  and  stated  that  she  had  tried  to  place  the  child  in  the  East  as  she  was 
compelled  to  come  to  California  to  meet  her  husband  but  was  unsuccessful;  that 
she  had  three  children  of  her  own,  her  youngest  a  baby  of  eight  months  (this 
after  I  had  asked  her  if  she  wasn't  nursing  this  baby).  She  said  she  was  staying 
in  San  Francisco  at  a  certain  hotel  where  a  woman  was  now  caring  for  her 
children.  A  worker  from  our  office  slipped  over  to  the  hotel  and  found  that 
Mrs.  G.  was  registered  there  and  talked  with  the  woman  who  had  been  on  the 
same  train  coming  from  the  East.  Our  worker  learned  that  the  woman  in  our 
office  had  an  infant  in  arms  only.  I  told  the  poor  woman  trying  so  hard  to  con- 
ceal her  misfortune,  that  I  had  found  out  the  truth  and  was  ready  to  help  her 
in  any  way  that  seemed  best,  but  she  clung  to  the  story  and  said  she  would  go 
back  to  the  hotel  until  I  had  communicated  with  the  physician  in  the  East.  I 
went  to  see  her  that  same  evening,  but  she  had  left  the  hotel.  Three  days  ago 
she  came  back  looking  forlorn  and  miserable,  with  a  very  sick  baby.  She  then 
told  me  the  truth  and  signed  the  relinquishment,  and  we  secured  one  of  the 
Associated  Charities  boarding  homes  where  the  baby  may  have  the  benefit  of 
the  best  physicians  and  the  supervision  of  an  efficient  visiting  nurse.  The  mother 
took  the  child  to  the  boarding  home.  She  may  go  and  see  him  if  she  cares  to  and 
before  the  child  is  in  proper  physical  condition  to  be  placed  we  shall  know  whether 
there  has  been  a  change  in  the  mother's  state  of  mind,  or  a  change  in  her  economic 
state,  and  can  better  judge  what  seems  best  for  the  child. 

We  are  extremely  fortunate  in  having  these  selected  boarding  homes 
furnished  us  by  the  different  charities  of  San  Francisco,  Oakland  and  Berkeley 
for  $12.50  a  month  for  a  child.  We  are  fortunate  in  having  the  co-operation  of 
the  hospitals  when  our  babies  need  hospital  care.  We  are  fortunate  in  being  able 
to  protect  foster  parents,  as  far  as  science  has  gone,  in  getting  the  results  of  X  Ray 
examinations  when  necessary  and  Wasserman  tests  always.  We  are  fortunate 
in  being  able  to  call  upon  one  of  our  finest  eye  specialists  and  have  him  manifest 
his  happiness  because  he  is  able  to  do  for  some  child.  Because  of  this  co-oper- 
ation in  getting  the  children  in  good  physical  condition  before  placement,  because 
of  the  intelligence  and  watchfulness  of  our  foster  mothers  after  placement,  because 
God  has  been  good,  we  have  lost  only  one  baby  after  being  put  into  a  home  this 
year. 

The  greater  part  of  our  supervision  is  done  by  the  Native  Daughters  who 
live  in  the  community  in  which  the  child  has  been  placed.  If  for  any  reason  we 
are  skeptical  as  to  the  positive  desirability  of  a  home,  the  Secretary  or  Assistant 
Secretary  or  both,  keep  in  touch  with  the  family,  but  I  assure  you  that  it  is  a 
pretty  difficult  matter  for  anything  to  go  wrong  and  the  Central  Office  remain 
in  ignorance. 

Each  Parlor  has  its  local  Children's  Committee,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
Chairman  to  send  written  reports  of  visits  made  to  the  children  to  the  Central 
Committee  on  blanks  furnished  for  that  purpose.  We  aim  to  have  these  reports 
sent  to  us  every  three  months.  Some  Committees  report  oftener  than  three 
months,  other  Committees  while  seeing  the  children  many  times  in  a  month  neg- 
lect to  send  in  their  written  reports  to  the  Central  Office  and  have  to  be  reminded 
by  the  Central  Office  on  postals  printed  for  that  purpose. 

We  have  at  present  about  271  children  under  our  supervision.  The  Cen- 
tral Committee  are  alone  responsible  for  50  children. 

55 


We  have,  as  has  every  child-placing  agent,  free  transportation  over  all 
lines  in  the  State,  half  fare  on  stage  lines,  charity  rates  for  our  children.  Without 
this  courtesy  we  should  find  our  funds  wholly  inadequate. 

Consent  is  given  for  adoption  after  the  child  has  been  six  months  in  the 
home  if  everything  is  satisfactory  and  if  the  legal  requirements  are  complied 
with.  By  far  the  greater  number  of  our  parents  wait  the  year.  This  is  more 
satisfactory  to  us.  In  extreme  cases  where  unexpected  business  calls  the  parents 
away  and  we  feel  that  there  can  be  no  question  about  the  desirability  of  the 
foster  parents,  adoption  is  permitted  before  six  months,  but  these  exceptions 
are  very  rare.  We  have  nothing  to  do  about  the  adoption  fees.  We  advise  the 
parents  to  select  their  attorney.  Upon  request  of  the  lawyer,  we  send  the 
necessary  papers  in  our  possession  and  see  that  the  consent  is  signed  by  the 
proper  person.  After  the  completion  of  the  case  we  send  the  date  of  adoption 
to  the  society  having  the  legal  custody. 

Our  folders  are  divided  into  pending  children,  pending  applicants,  placed 
children;  supplied  applicants,  declined  or  withdrawn  applications,  and  adoptions. 

In  the  parent's  folder  is  application  blank,  reference  blanks  and  agent's 
preliminary  report  of  the  home  on  a  green  blank,  and  correspondence. 

In  the  child's  folder  is  the  correspondence,  history  of  child,  and  visitor's 
reports  on  a  yellow  blank.  When  adopted  the  child's  case  and  parent's  case  are 
fastened  together  and  filed  under  the  child's  name. 

We  have  the  card  system;  parent's  card  with  the  address  and  child's  name 
thereon;  and  the  child's  card  stating  child's  name,  birth,  reason  for  commit- 
ment; from  what  society  received;  names  of  own  parents,  age,  nationality,  religion, 
occupation,  and  reasons  for  relinquishment;  foster  parent's  name,  age,  occupation 
and  religion,  always  placing  Catholic  children  in  Catholic  homes  and  Protestant 
children  in  Protestant  homes. 

When  a  report  on  the  child  has  been  received  we  place  a  colored  signal 
signifying  one  of  the  twelve  months  in  the  year,  on  one  end  of  the  child's  card 
and  on  the  back  is  written  the  date  of  the  month  visited,  by  whom,  and  whether 
report  is  favorable  or  unfavorable  or  indifferent. 

In  looking  over  the  files  one  may  quickly  ascertain  the  children  who  should 
be  visited  by  the  colored  signals  representing  the  months.  When  the  child  has 
been  adopted  all  the  data  obtainable  can  be  found  on  the  cards  as  we  are  by  that 
time  in  receipt  of  this  data  from  the  society  in  whose  custody  the  child  was  left. 
When  the  children  are  given  to  us  direct,  the  data  is  placed  on  the  card  at  once. 

And  now  my  fifteen  minutes  are  up  and  I  am  done,  and  I  shall  welcome 
in  behalf  of  the  Central  Committee  suggestions  which  shall  help  us  to  perfect 
a  system  which  seems  to  me  is  animated  by  a  sincere  and  earnest  purpose.  A 
system  with  possibilities  so  great  that  absolute  protection  may  be  assured  to 
every  child  eligible  for  adoption.  And  those  who  are  eligible  or  not  eligible,  or 
should  be  eligible  is  quite  a  large  chapter  by  itself. 


56 


PROBATION 

Adult  Probation 

MR.  L.  D.  COMPTON 

Adult  Probation  is  on  the  point  of  receiving  the  recognition  which  it 
merits  in  California.  Up  to  the  present  it  has  been  overshadowed  by  the  more 
picturesque  Juvenile  Court. 

While  its  bigger  brother,  the  Juvenile  Court  will  probably  undergo  a 
process  of  change  and  possible  amalgamation  with  an  extension  of  the  public 
school  system,  Adult  Probation  appears  to  have  reached  maturity,  will  probably 
not  greatly  change  but  will  continue  to  widen  the  scope  of  its  fundamental  pur- 
pose, which  is  that  of  restoring  adults  to  society  after  they  fall,  without  recourse 
to  prison.  This  will  go  on  up  to  the  day  when  the  saloon  as  we  know  it  in 
California  is  wiped  out,  when  the  evil  of  fictitious  checks  is  solved  by  some  inven- 
tion of  finance  or  credit,  and  when  the  indiscriminate  sale  of  deadly  weapons 
is  ended. 

But  until  the  time  our  people  realize  that  crime  prevention  is  only  a  matter 
of  horse  sense,  adult  probation  must  bear  an  increasing  burden  in  saving  an 
increasing  percentage  of  our  population  from  the  penitentiary.  The  extreme 
need  for  this  saving  was  pointed  out  two  weeks  ago  when  our  Prison  Directors 
issued  a  request  to  the  Superior  Judges  of  the  State  to  try  probation  with  every 
first  offender  for  whom  there  appeared  even  a  slight  chance  of  redemption,  rather 
than  to  subject  more  of  our  men  to  the  sure  loss  of  self-respect  and  manhood 
that  comes  from  life  in  the  grossly  overcrowded  San  Quentin  and  Folsom  prisons. 

Striking  as  was  this  appeal,  I  would  warn  against  the  spread  of  a  belief 
that  probation  is  assured  to  all  first  offenders.  If  this  were  so,  the  existence  of 
the  probation  system  would  automatically  license  every  man,  woman  and  youth 
to  commit  one  felony  with  impunity.  I  should  not  care  to  be  sponsor  for  such 
an  impression  and  in  my  own  work  I  take  care  to  correct  it  where  possible.  I  am 
sorry  that  the  plea  of  the  prison  directors  was  made  public.  A  person  who  is 
weak  enough  to  commit  crime  is  much  better  for  a  wholesome  fear  of  exposure 
and  punishment.  He  is  much  worse  if  he  is  certain  that  the  first  time  will  be 
followed  with  leniency. 

The  best  part  of  actual  redemptive  work  and  moral  making  over  is  done 
while  the  applicant  for  probation  is  waiting  in  a  state  of  high  uncertainty  in  the 
county  jail,  after  his  plea  of  guilty.  To  him  probation  offers  two  things,  imme- 
diate hope  of  release  from  the  jail  and  ultimate  escape  from  the  penitentiary. 
Let  a  man  spend  50  to  90  days  in  jail  in  this  State,  long  enough  for  the  novelty 
to  wear  off  and  dread  monotony  to  set  in  and  he  is  then  in  the  best  mood  to 
realize  down  to  the  soles  of  his  feet  that  being  in  jail  is  mighty  serious  business 
and  it  is  up  to  him  to  keep  out  in  the  future,  if  he  gets  out.  At  this  time  the 
question  "How  would  you  like  to  face  a  five  year  term  in  prison"  means  more 
to  him  than  to  anyone  else  in  the  world.  Uncertainty  is  wonderful  sauce  to  a 
man's  hunger  for  liberty  and  the  zest  it  gives  does  not  soon  wear  off. 

57 


Except  in  cases  out  of  the  ordinary  because  of  bad  health,  experience  has 
convinced  me  that  applicants  for  probation  should  remain  in  the  county  jail 
while  the  probation  officer  is  investigating  his  record.  Nor  should  any  assurance 
be  given  him  from  any  source,  that  probation  is  his,  regardless  of  the  nature  of 
the  report.  If  he  feels  that  he  must  co-operate  in  laying  bare  his  record  and  his 
life  to  the  probation  officer,  a  bond  of  sympathy  is  then  established  which  will  last. 

The  attitude  of  a  man's  relatives  is  very  important.  He  can  accept  any 
help  from  them  and  be  better  for  it.  But  let  strangers,  actuated  by  a  laudable 
desire  to  "do  good,"  furnish  the  applicant  with  home,  clothes  and  a  job,  and 
somewhere  along  this  line  the  great  human  weakness  of  ingratitude  gets  in  its 
deadly  work,  and  serious  failure  is  likely  to  result.  My  own  experience  is  that 
friendless  youths,  who  beat  it  from  their  Eastern  homes,  to  this  State,  getting 
into  trouble,  and  making  sympathetic  appeals  to  strangers,  especially  women 
who  have  had  "large  experience  with  boys,  and  know  boys  thoroughly,"  under 
these  conditions  put  into  practice,  make  the  worst  risks  on  probation.  Why, 
I  do  not  know,  but  experience  has  knocked  on  the  head  one  of  my  most  beautiful 
illusions  regarding  "friends  for  those  who  have  no  friends"  through  their  own 
fault,  pretty  nearly  always. 

To  affect  a  man's  mental  attitude  I  frequently  tell  him,  "People  will  always 
give  you  a  boost  in  the  direction  you  are  headed,  either  up  or  down."  From  this 
he  sees  the  importance  of  making  it  definitely  known,  which  way  he  is  pointing 
when  he  is  on  probation. 

To  avoid  humiliating  a  probationer  in  public  through  any  action  of  the 
probation  officer,  is  of  course  too  obvious  to  need  remark  here.  But  this  one 
thing  can  be  made  to  set  off  in  his  mind  the  difference  between  the  probation 
honor  system  and  any  police  spy  system.  Physicians  and  nurses  can  adopt  a 
professional  attitude  toward  patients  and  so  save  the  exhaustive  drains  upon 
their  sympathies,  but  Probation  Officers  must,  to  get  results,  actually  place 
themselves  in  the  situation  of  probationers  and  be  genuinely  sympathetic.  Cour- 
tesy and  even  comradeship,  willingness  and  ability  to  listen  patiently  to  their 
troubles,  go  far  to  assure  probationers  of  this  sympathy  and  lighten  the  load 
on  the  officers'  nerves. 

Prosecuting  attorneys,  judges,  and  probation  officers  themselves  should 
realize  that  probation  is  for  guilty  men  alone  and  the  practice  of  putting  men 
on  probation  because  there  seems  nothing  else  to  do  with  them  should  stop. 
Actuated  by  the  belief  that  a  term  on  probation  can  do  a  defendant  "no  harm 
and  may  do  some  good,  and  we  can  always  send  out  and  get  him  when  we  want 
him,"  men  are  placed  on  probation  where  by  every  rule  of  law  and  evidence  they 
should  be  acquitted  of  the  charge.  Then  later,  if  they  get  into  real  trouble  the 
fact  that  they  have  been  on  probation  operates  against  them,  they  are  old  offenders, 
have  had  their  chance  on  probation  and  to  prison  they  go.  In  this  way,  probation 
as  operated,  has  frequently  been  the  downfall  of  men,  instead  of  their  uplift. 
A  little  stiffening  of  the  backbone  all  around  might  help  in  such  cases,  certainly 
public  defenders  in  this  State  ought  to  be  of  use  to  prevent  the  practice. 

Probation  for  woman  felony  offenders  seems  to  be  a  joke.  Women  for 
offenses  like  grand  larceny,  fictitious  checks  and  gambling  feel  that  probation  is 
certain  and  that  they  have  apologies  coming  for  being  inconvenienced  for  a  time 
in  jail.  Who  has  heard  of  a  woman  probationer  being  reported  to  the  court  for 
violation? 

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As  many  cases  of  crime  are  directly  due  to  the  use  of  liquor  or  drugs,  I 
believe  that  probation  officers  should  be  enabled  to  secure  medical  co-operation 
of  the  highest  order  in  handling  a  man  so  addicted.  The  State  institutions  should 
be  utilized  to  greater  extent  for  this  purpose  and  the  whole  existing  theories  on 
which  county  jail  doctors  work  should  be  changed.  Drug  fiends  in  jail  are  now 
given  their  favorite  drug,  to  keep  them  quiet  nights.  Instead  they  should  at 
once  undergo  hospital  treatment  in  the  jail,  or  branches  of  the  county  infirmary. 
A  bad  failure  which  came  under  the  speaker's  observation  came  from  a  man 
secretly  becoming  addicted  to  the  morphine  habit  from  the  quantities  in  circu- 
lation in  the  jail  before  he  was  released  on  probation.  Most  men  in  jail  double 
the  number  of  cigarettes  to  which  they  are  accustomed,  which  certainly  does 
not  raise  them  as  probation  risks.  Work  in  yards  adjoining  the  jail  is  to  be 
recommended  for  this. 

Mental  suggestion  has  been  tried  in  Alameda  County  with  good  results 
in  breaking  these  habits,  always  with  a  medical  treatment.  Competent  exami- 
nation of  applicants  by  medical  and  nerve  specialists  has  been  of  great  value, 
and  ought  to  be  more  extensively  employed. 

Finally,  the  Adult  Probation  Department  ought  to  stand  on  its  own  feet 
and  not  be  a  branch,  none  too  important  in  many  cases,  of  the  Juvenile  Court. 
Whether  it  is  more  important  to  save  a  child  than  a  man  is  merely  a  variation 
of  the  old  problem,  Which  comes  first,  the  chicken,  or  the  egg?  Certainly  every 
one  in  Adult  Probation  work  realizes  its  worth  and  dignity,  sees  its  beneficial 
results  on  every  hand,  and  knows  that  it  is  entitled  to  its  own  individuality. 


59 


COUNTY  CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTIONS 
Extracts  from  a  bill  Pending  in  the  Missouri  Legislature 

Sec.  1329  (b)  Boards  of  Public  Welfare— How  Appointed— Term 
of  Office.  In  each  county  of  the  state,  the  judge  or  judges  of  the  Circuit  Court 
shall  appoint  five  persons,  at  least  two  of  whom  shall  be  women  and  not  more 
than  three  shall  have  the  same  political  affiliations,  who  shall  constitute  a  County 
Board  of  Public  Welfare,  one  of  whom  as  indicated  by  the  appointing  judge  or 
judges,  upon  the  first  appointment,  shall  serve  for  one  year,  two  for  two  years 
and  two  for  three  years,  and  upon  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  each,  his  or  her 
place  and  that  of  his  or  her  successor  shall  in  like  manner  be  filled  for  the  term 
of  three  years,  who  shall  constitute  a  County  Board  of  Public  Welfare  for  the 
control  and  administration  of  the  charitable,  correctional,  and  social  welfare 
activities  of  the  county,  who  shall  serve  without  compensation. 

Sec.  1330  (a)  Organization  of  Board — Secretary  to  File  Report. 
The  persons  appointed  as  members  of  the  County  Board  of  Public  Welfare,  within 
one  week  after  receiving  notice  of  appointment,  shall  meet  at  some  convenient 
place  and  organize  by  electing  a  chairman  and  secretary  from  their  own  number. 
The  secretary  shall  file  a  report  of  such  organization,  signed  by  him-  or  herself, 
and  by  the  said  chairman,  with  the  clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  county, 
and  the  secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections. 

Sec.  1330  (b)  Meetings.  The  County  Board  of  Public  Welfare  shall 
have  an  office  in  the  court  house,  where  possible,  and  it  shall  hold  regular  meet- 
ings at  least  once  a  month  and  as  many  special  meetings  as  it  may  deem  proper, 
and  three  members  of  said  board  shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  the  transaction 
of  business,  and  an  affirmative  vote  of  at  Iteast  three  members  shall  be  necessary 
to  authorize  any  action  of  the  County  Board  of  Public  Welfare. 

Sec.  1331  (a)  Duties  of  the  Board.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  County 
Board  of  Public  Welfare  to  administer  all  the  funds  devoted  to  the  care  of  the 
poor,  sick,  and  distressed  of  the  county,  and  to  administer  the  charitable  and 
correctional  institutions  of  the  county. 

Sec.  1331  (b)  To  Act  as  Auxiliary  to  the  State  Board  of  Charities 
and  Correction.  The  County  Board  of  Public  Welfare  may  be  deputized  or 
authorized  by  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections  to  act  as  its  agent 
in  relation  to  any  work  to  be  done  by  the  State  Board  within  the  county,  and 
when  said  County  Board  of  Public  Welfare  is  so  authorized  as  the  agent  of  the 
State  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections,  it  shall  have  the  same  powers  and 
authority  as  are  given  to  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections. 

Sec.  1331  (c)  After-Care  of  the  Insane.  The  County  Board  of  Pub- 
lic Welfare  in  each  county  shall,  upon  request  of  the  State  Board  of  Charities 
and  Corrections  and  in  accordance  with  its  direction,  give  special  care  and  atten- 
tion to  the  needs  of  any  patients  recently  discharged  from  state  hospitals  for  the 
insane  who  reside  in  their  respective  counties,  either  on  parole  or  by  permanent 
discharge,  to  the  end  that  such  patients  may  be  established  in  such  favorable 

60 


circumstances  as  shall  tend  to  prevent  their  relapse  into  insanity,  and  shall  report 
on  the  progress  of  such  former  patients  to  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Cor- 
rections, and  under  its  direction,  to  the  institution  from  which  they  have  been 
paroled  or  discharged. 

Sec.  1331  (d)     Oversight  of  Prisoners  Placed  on  Parole  or  Probation. 

The  County  Board  of  Public  Welfare  in  each  county  shall  give  such  oversight 
and  supervision  to  prisoners  who  are  on  parole  from  the  state  penitentiary  and 
are  residing  in  their  respective  counties  as  may  be  requested  by  the  State  Board 
of  Pardons  and  Paroles,  and  shall  report  upon  the  progress  of  said  paroled  prison- 
ers to  the  State  Board  of  Pardons  and  Paroles  as  often  as  they  request. 

The  County  Board  of  Public  Welfare  in  each  county  shall  give  such  over- 
sight and  supervision  to  the  boys  who  are  on  parole  from  the  State  Industrial 
School  for  Boys,  or  to  such  girls  as  may  be  on  parole  from  the  State  Industrial 
Home  for  Girls,  or  the  State  Industrial  School  for  Negro  Girls,  as  these  respective 
institutions  request,  and  shall  report  to  said  institutions  upon  the  progress  of 
those  persons  on  parole  from  them  as  often  as  they  are  requested  by  said  State 
institutions. 

The  County  Board  of  Public  Welfare  in  each  county  shall  give  oversight 
and  supervision  to  prisoners  placed  on  parole  or  probation  by  any  Criminal  Court 
in  the  State  of  Missouri,  or  investigate  applicants  for  clemency  when  it  is  requested 
to  do  so  by  said  courts  and  shall  report  in  regard  to  each  person  placed  under  its 
supervision  to  the  court  placing  said  person  under  its  supervision. 

The  County  Board  of  Public  Welfare  shall  also  give  oversight  and  super- 
vision to  children  placed  on  parole  or  probation  from  the  Juvenile  Court  of  any 
county  in  the  state  when  requested  to  do  so  by  said  Juvenile  Court  and  shall 
report  to  said  court  upon  the  progress  of  persons  thus  placed  on  parole  or  pro- 
bation. 

Sec.  1331  (e)  Recreation.  The  County  Board  of  Public  Welfare  shall 
promote  wholesome  recreation  within  the  county  and  enforce  such  laws  as  regulate 
the  character  of  commercial  amusements  within  the  county. 

Sec.  1331  (f)  Oversight  of  Dependent  Children.  The  County  Board 
of  Public  Welfare  in  each  county  shall  act  as  local  representative  of  the  State 
Bureau  for  Children  under  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections,  and 
shall,  upon  the  request  of  said  bureau,  assist  in  finding  suitable  foster  homes  and 
shall  report  to  said  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections  upon  the  progress 
and  welfare  of  children  who  have  been  placed  in  foster  homes  by  the  Bureau  for 
children. 

Sec.  1331  (g)  Assisting  State  Employment  Bureaus.  The  County 
Board  of  Public  Welfare  in  each  county  shall  co-operate  with  the  state  free  em- 
ployment bureaus  and  shall,  upon  the  request  of  the  head  of  such  bureaus,  furnish 
data  with  regard  to  the  opportunities  for  employment  in  their  respective  counties 
and  shall  aid  and  assist  in  any  practical  way  in  securing  employment  for  the 
unemployed  of  their  respective  counties. 

Sec.  1331  (h)  Investigation  Into  the  Causes  of  Distress.  It  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  County  Board  of  Public  Welfare  to  investigate  the  conditions 
of  living  among  the  poor,  sick,  or  delinquent,  in  the  county  and  to  examine  thor- 
oughly into  the  causes  of  crime  and  poverty  in  the  county  and  make  recommenda- 
tions from  time  to  time  to  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections  and  to 

61 


proper  local  authorities  as  to  any  changes  or  any  legislation  necessary  to  prevent 
or  reduce  poverty,  crime  or  distress  in  the  state.  The  investigators  of  said  Board 
of  Public  Welfare  may  be  deputized  as  agents  of  the  State  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics,  and  when  they  are  so  deputized  by  the  State  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
they  shall  exercise  all  the  authority  to  make  investigations  which  is  granted  to 
the  State  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics. 

Sec.  1331  (i)  County  Boards  of  Public  Welfare  May  Employ  Neces- 
sary Help.  The  County  Board  of  Public  Welfare  may  employ  such  persons  as 
are  necessary  for  the  proper  execution  of  its  work  and  fix  their  titles  and  their 
compensation.  In  counties  containing  cities  of  the  first  class  which  have  a  Social 
Welfare  Board,  the  County  Board  of  Public  Welfare  and  the  Social  Welfare 
Board  may  join  in  employing  a  common  executive  officer  of  both  boards. 

Sec.  1331  (j)  County  Court  Shall  Provide  Funds  for  the  Support 
of  the  Work  of  the  County  Boards  of  Public  Welfare.  The  County  Court 
in  each  county  shall  appropriate  annually  to  the  use  of  the  County  Board  of 
Public  Welfare  a  percentage  of  the  total  revenue  for  general  purposes  equal  to 
the  percentage  of  the  said  total  revenue  appropriated  for  the  fiscal  year  1914, 
for  the  purpose  of  assisting  the  poor,  the  sick,  or  delinquent  in  any  of  the  ways 
which  are  placed  by  this  act  within  the  power  and  control  of  the  County  Board 
of  Public  Welfare  and  it  shall  not  reduce  the  percentage  of  said  total  revenue 
appropriated  from  year  to  year  without  the  written  consent  of  the  County  Board 
of  Public  Welfare,  but  shall  increase  the  percentage  appropriated  from  year  to 
year  as  the  needs  of  the  work  to  be  done  -shall  require. 

Sec.  1331  (k)  Disbursing  of  Funds.  The  funds  appropriated  to  the 
Board  of  Public  Welfare  by  the  County  Court  shall  be  applied  by  the  Board  of 
Public  Welfare  to  its  various  activities  in  such  proportion  as  it  deems  best  but 
in  the  disbursement  of  its  funds  and  making  of  contracts,  the  Board  of  Public 
Welfare  shall  be  subject  to  the  same  restrictions  as  control  the  County  Court. 

Sec.  1331  (1)  Records.  The  records  of  cases  handled  and  business  trans- 
acted by  the  County  Board  of  Public  Welfare  shall  be  kept  in  manner  and  form 
as  may  be  prescribed  by  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections. 

Sec.  1332.  Board  to  Make  Yearly  Report.  The  County  Board  of 
Public  Welfare  shall  each  year  prepare  a  full  report  of  its  proceedings  during 
the  year  and  shall  publish  the  same  and  file  a  copy  with  the  Secretary  of  the  State 
Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections  and  with  the  judge  of  the  Circuit  Court,  on 
or  before  the  first  day  of  November  each  year.  The  County  Board  of  Public 
Welfare  may  at  any  time  call  on  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections 
for  advice  and  assistance  in  performance  of  its  duties. 

Sec.  1336.  County  Court  to  Provide  for  the  Support  of  the  Poor. 
The  County  Court  of  each  county  shall  provide  the  necessary  funds  to  the  County 
Board  of  Public  Welfare  for  the  relief,  maintenance  and  support  of  the  poor. 

Sec.  1337    (a)     County  Board  of  Public  Welfare  to  Exercise  Discretion. 

The  exclusive  power  to  grant  stated  weekly  allowances  under  this  act  and  also 
to  determine  and  pass  upon  all  allowances  for  public  outdoor  relief  in  the  county 
infirmary,  poorhouse,  or  county  hospital  in  each  county  of  Missouri,  shall  be 
vested  in  the  County  Board  of  Public  Welfare  of  said  county,  and  said  board 
shall  at  all  times  use  its  discretion  and  grant  relief  to  all  persons  without  regard 

62 


to  residence  who  may  require  its  assistance,  and  shall  advise  the  County  Court 
in  regard  to  who  shall  be  entitled  to  be  recognized  as  county  charges  and  sent 
at  the  expense  of  the  county  to  any  of  the  state  charitable  institutions. 

Sec.  1337  (b)  Investigation  of  Applicants.  The  Board  of  Public  Wel- 
fare in  each  county  shall  investigate  thoroughly  the  applications  of  all  persons 
for  stated  allowances  under  this  act,  or  for  any  public  relief  of  any  kind,  and  such 
investigation  shall  be  made  in  the  manner  and  form  prescribed  by  the  State  Board 
of  Charities  and  Corrections  to  the  end  that  uniform  records  and  rules  of  proce- 
dure may  prevail  in  all  counties,  and  a  full  record  of  all  the  pertinent  facts  in 
regard  to  each  applicant  shall  be  kept  on  file  and  be  open  to  inspection  by  the 
County  Court  or  by  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections. 

Sec.  1341.  Superintendent  Shall  be  Appointed.  Whenever  such 
poorhouse  or  houses  are  erected,  the  County  Board  of  Public  Welfare  shall  have 
power  to  appoint  a  fit  and  discreet  person  to  superintend  the  same  and  the  poor 
who  may  be  kept  thereat,  and  to  allow  such  superintendent  a  reasonable  com- 
pensation for  his  services. 

Sec.  1343.  The  County  Boards  of  Public  Welfare  Shall  Make  All 
Necessary  Orders  and  Rules.  The  County  Board  of  Public  Welfare  shall 
have  power  to  make  all  necessary  and  proper  orders  and  rules  for  the  support 
and  government  of  the  poor  kept  at  such  poorhouse,  and  for  supplying  them 
with  the  necessary  raw  materials  to  be  converted  by  their  labor  into  articles  of 
use,  and  for  the  disposing  of  the  products  of  such  labor  and  applying  the  pro- 
ceeds thereof  to  the  support  of  the  institution. 

Sec.  1344.  County  Courts  Shall  Provide  Necessary  Amounts  For 
the  Annual  Support.  The  County  Board  of  Public  Welfare  shall  maintain 
the  county  poorhouse  out  of  funds  apportioned  to  it  by  the  County  Court. 

Sec.  1345.  May  Remove  Superintendent.  The  County  Board  of 
Public  Welfare  may  at  any  time,  for  good  cause,  remove  the  superintendent  and 
appoint  another  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

Sec.  1573  (a)  Inspection  and  Regulation  of  County  Jails.  In  all 
counties  having  50,000  population  or  more,  the  County  Board  of  Public  Welfare 
shall  have  control  and  management  of  the  county  jail,  provide  for  its  maintenance 
and  the  maintenance  of  the  prisoners,  and  shall  have  the  power  to  provide  or 
arrange  employment  for  all  prisoners  serving  sentence,  and  to  establish  and 
declare  rules  and  regulations  for  the  conduct  of  the  jail  and  shall  have  power 
and  authority  to  enforce  such  rules  and  regulations  and  to  appoint  and  discharge 
the  jailer  and  all  employees  connected  with  the  jail,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
such  board  to  at  all  times  keep  itself  informed  as  to  the  condition  of  such  jail. 
In  case  the  board  at  any  time  shall  discover  or  learn  of  any  mismanagement  of 
the  jail  or  mistreatment  of  the  prisoners  confined  therein,  such  board  shall  have 
full  power  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  such  board  to  fully  investigate  such  charges 
of  mismanagement  or  mistreatment  of  the  prisoners,  together  with  the  official 
or  employee  against  whom  such  charges  may  be  made,  and  shall  be  empowered 
to  subpoena  and  compel  the  attendance  of  witnesses  upon  such  investigation. 
And  if  the  board  upon  such  investigation  shall  determine  that  the  jailer  in  charge 
of  the  jail  shall  have  been  guilty  of  a  violation  of  the  rules  and  regulations  made 
by  the  board,  for  the  control  and  management  of  the  jail,  or  shall  have  failed 
to  have  discharged  his  duty  as  administrator  of  the  jail,  or  shall  have  been  guilty 

63 


of  any  mistreatment  of  the  prisoners  confined  therein,  such  board  may  discharge 
said  jailer  and  in  case  any  employee  shall  have  been  found  guilty  of  a  violation 
of  any  of  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  board  and  shall  have  failed  to  discharge 
his  duties  as  such  employee  in  any  respect,  such  board  shall  have  power  to  dis- 
charge or  suspend  such  employee  as  it  may  deem  proper. 

Sec.  1573  (c)  Maintenance  of  the  Jail.  The  Board  of  Public  Welfare 
shall  provide  for  the  maintenance  of  the  jail  and  the  support  of  the  prisoners. 

The  Proposed  Kansas  Plan 

MR.  L.  A.  HALBERT 

The  Kansas  bill  provided  for  a  county  superintendent  of  Public  Welfare 
with  all  the  powers  ascribed  to  the  board  in  the  Missouri  bill.  He  was  to  be 
appointed  by  the  county  commissioners,  but  must  have  a  certificate  of  qualifi- 
cation from  the  State  Board  before  he  could  be  employed.  The  certificates  were 
exactly  analogous  to  teachers'  certificates  except  in  regard  to  the  subject  matter 
of  the  examinations,  which  was  to  be  adapted  to  social  workers.  The  pay  followed 
the  salary  of  county  superintendents  of  schools  exactly,  and  in  very  thinly  settled 
counties  the  same  person  could  hold  both  offices. 

The  advantage  common  to  both  plans  is  that  it  would  be  possible  by  cen- 
tralizing all  forms  of  social  work  in  the  county  to  have  the  full  time  of  one  or 
more  trained  social  workers. 


64 


LIST  OF  MEMBERS  OF   1915  STATE  CONFERENCE 


J.  C.  Astredo, 

2344  Sutter  St.,  San  Francisco 
Mrs.  E.  L.  Baldwin, 

1440  Clay  St.,  San  Francisco 
Geo.  L.  Bell, 

215  Underwood  Bldg.,  S.  F. 
Wm.  M.  Bell, 

227  West  51st  St.,  L.  A. 
Wilfred  Bourne,  Major, 

Lytton,   Sonoma   Co. 
Julius  A.  Brown, 

2227  Hobart  Bldg.,  L.  A. 
Miss  Mary  Brusie, 

855  Phelan  Bldg.,  S.  F. 
Miss  Alice  S.  Griffith, 

2820  Pacific  Ave.,  S.  F. 
Mrs.  Carrie  P.  Bryant, 

942  Bonnie  Brae  St.,  L.  A. 
Frances  H.  Byram, 

323  N.  Broadway,  L.  A. 
W.  F.  Chandler, 

Rowell  Chandler  Bldg.,  Fresno 
A.   Carter, 

600  Frost  Bldg.,  L.  A. 

A.  L.  Cowell, 

2400  Van  Ness  Ave.,  S.  F. 
Wm.  J.  Dart, 

127  Wilmington  St.,  L.  A. 
Albert  Eckstrom, 

32  W.  Willow  St.,  Stockton 

B.  A.  Davis, 

1128  Logan  St.,  L.  A. 
Anita  Eldridge, 

324  Fredrick  St.,  S.  F. 
A.  C.   Dodds, 

Pasadena,  Cal. 
Thomas  D.  Eliot, 

637  Phelan  Bldg.,  S.  F. 
Mabel  L.  Gould, 

Pasadena,  Cal. 
Mrs.  Mollie  Bloom  Flagg, 

Turlock,  Cal. 
Wm.  Glass, 

1441  I  St.,  Fresno 


Mrs.  Flora  M.  Freeman, 

942    Park    Ave.,    San  Jose 
Jas.  A.  Johnston, 

San  Quentin,  Cal. 
Clementina  de  Forest  Griffin, 

Brounson  House  Settlement, 

711  Jackson  St.,  L.  A. 
R.  D.  Logan, 

Salinas,  Cal. 
Miss  Lillian  Haley, 

County  Charities,  L.  A. 
Miss  Mira  E.  Morgan, 

5734  Buchanan  St.,  L.  A. 
Very  Rev.  Joseph  S.  Glass, 

Grand  Ave.  and  Washington  St., 

Los  Angeles. 
Mrs.  M.  M.  Pentoney, 

Riverside,  Cal. 
Arthur  B.   Heeb, 

Y.  M.  C.  A.  Bldg.,  Stockton,  Cal. 
Mrs.  Benj.  Goldman, 

Los  Angeles,  Cal. 
Col.  Wm.  M.  Hughes. 

128  East  First  St.,  L.  A.,  Cal. 
Dr.  Milbank  Johnson, 

Los  Angeles,  Cal. 
Otto  E.   Kramer, 

Santa  Barbara,  Cal. 
R.   A.   Lang, 

2231  Shattuck  Ave.,  Berkeley,  Cal. 
Frances  B.  Lemon, 

1575  Madison  St.,  Oakland 
Mrs.  Maud  Lonon, 

376  20th  Ave.,  S.  F. 
Mrs.  Cora  D.  Lewis, 

2232  W.  25th  St.,  L.  A. 
M.  C.   Lutz, 

Live  Oak,  Sutter  Co.,  Cal. 
Dr.  William  P.  Lucas, 

University  of  Cal.  Hospital,  S.  F. 
G.  R.  E.  MacDonald, 

1209  N  St.,  Fresno,  Cal. 
E.  J.  Lickley, 

717  Security  Bldg.,  L.  A.,  Cal. 


65 


Elizabeth  McManus, 

1354  Carroll  Ave.,  L.  A.,  Cal. 
Robt.  O.  Moody, 

2826  Garber  St.,  Berkeley,  Cal. 
Thos.  C.   Marshall, 

523  S.  Olive  St.,  L.  A.,  Cal. 
N.  C.  Martin, 

Hall  of  Records,  L.  A.,  Cal. 
Dr.  Martin  A.  Meyer, 

2109  Baker  St.,  S.  F.,  Cal. 
Elsie  H.  Mellen, 

837  So.  Vermont  Ave.,  L.  A. 
Chas.  T.  Murphy,  Jr  , 

1553  Curran  St.,  L.  A.,  Cal. 
Beatrice  A.  McCall, 

Room  701  City  Hall,  Oakland 
Miss  Pounds, 

San  Diego,  Cal. 
Anna  E.  McCaughey, 

122  E.  Figueroa  St.,  Santa  Barbara 
Stuart  A.  Queen, 

1006  Phelan  Bldg.,  S.  F. 
Mrs.   E.  McCoy, 

Room  502  City  Hall,  Oakland 
H.   A.  Sessions, 

Court  House,  Fresno,  Cal. 
Rose  E.  McGinn, 

1015  Grand  View,  L.  A.,  Cal. 
Fred  H.  Taft, 

Santa  Monica,  Cal. 
Harriette  McLaury, 

950  Valencia  St.,   L.  A. 
Geo.  C.  Turner, 

460  Baker  St.,  S.  F.,  Cal. 
Crissey  McLemore, 

603  S.  Coronado  St.,  L.  A.,  or 

1214  Marsh-Strong  Bldg.,  L.  A. 
Thos.  M.  Temple. 

L.  A.  Examiner,  L.  A.  Cal. 
Osgood  Putnam, 

519  California  St.,  S.  F.,  Cal. 
Lewis  F.  McManus, 

214  S.  Seminary  St.,  Napa,  Cal. 
Margaret  C.  Nesfield, 

660  Bush  St.,  S.  F.,  Cal. 
Florence  G.  Moore, 

2277  Hobart  Blvd.,  L.  A.,  Cal. 
Chas.   N.  Queen, 

341  W.  61st  St.,  L.  A.,  Cal. 


Jessica  B.  Peixotto, 

Cloyne  Court,  Berkeley,  Cal. 
Chas.  A.   Ramm, 

1100  Franklin  St.,  S.  F.,  Cal. 
Harriett  G.  Probasco,  M.  D., 

2077  Hobart  Blvd.,  L.  A.,  Cal. 
C.  A.  Ryan, 

Lytton,  Cal. 
Christopher  Ruess, 

833  57th  St.,  Oakland 
Mrs.   Walter  Rose, 

Pasadena,  Cal. 
C.  H.   Riemenschneider, 

Modesto,  Cal. 
Major  Geo.  Reid, 

850  Harrison  St.,  S.  F..  Cal. 
Ida  V.  Stambach,  M.  D., 

1509  State  St.,  Santa  Barbara,  Cal. 
Ernest  P.  Von  Allmen, 

1006  Phelan  Bldg.,  S.   F.,   Cal. 
Margaret  F.  Sirch, 

Health  Department,  L.  A.,  Cal. 
Mrs.  W.  B.  Sharp, 

Houston,  Texas 
Rev.  E.  Guy  Talbott, 

3614  Magnolia  Ave.,  Sacramento 
Harold  K.   Vann, 

Los  Angeles,  Cal. 
Louis  C.  Sanford, 

843  Peralta  Way,  Fresno,  Cal. 
Gerald  C.  Waterhouse, 

Chino,  Cal. 
Isabel  Simeral, 

370  S.  Los  Robles  Ave.,  Pasadena 
C.  H.  Waterman, 

San  Jose,  Cal. 
Miss  Leonora  A.  Walsh, 

1783  West  25th  St.,  L.  A.,  Cal. 
Miss  Mabel   Weed, 

1910  Kittridge  St.,  Berkeley,  Cal. 
Miss  Mary  T.  Workman, 

357  So.  W.  Boyle  Ave.,  L.  A.,  Cal. 
Bessie  J.  Wood, 

Oakland  (Child's  Welfare  League). 
Clyde  N.   White, 

339  Phelan  Bldg.,  S.  F.,  Cal. 
Edward  L.  Parsons, 

2732  Durant  Ave.,  Berkeley,  Cal. 


66 


TREASURER'S  REPORT 


RECEIPTS 

Received  from  W.  A.  Gates,  on  hand  Oct.  9,  1914 _ $    31.22 

From  Osgood  Putnam. 20.00 

Memberships., 90.00 

Fresno  Conventions  Committee 250.00 


Total  Receipts  $    391.22 

EXPENDITURES 

Stamps $    15.00 

Printing 53.00 

Telegrams * 6.90 

Incidentals 19.43 

Speaker's  Expenses 138.05 


Total  Expenditures.... ._ 232.38 


Balance  April  24,    1915 $  158.84 


67 


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